The Redemption of Loki
by critterlady
Summary: Tamara and the team travel to Asgard. What happens when the team meets Loki again? Will they believe he has changed or think it is another of his lies and tricks? Can Loki be redeemed? Includes all Avengers, Pepper, Happy, SHIELD, Odin, Frigga, Warriors 3, Sif. This arc will be the lead in to Phase 2 movies (IM3, CA:TWS, T:TDW) Chapter count unknown. Tamara series - part 4
1. Unlikely Ambassadors

It had been two days since Thor had received the message from his mother inviting the Avengers to visit Asgård. Thor had spoken to his parents since then and had gotten permission to include Pepper and Jake in the group that would be visiting Asgård. Pepper didn't want to leave the company unmonitored for several days but Tony pointed out that she would be at risk while they were gone, so she finally relented.

Thor had asked Tamara if she had any idea who the fourth child could be, given that the Norns only stated the child had the power to command energy. When he first asked her, she wasn't sure who the Norns could mean but later she realized that Remy could be seen as someone with the power to control energy. However, she hesitated to bring this up to him, knowing how he longed to have a real family and dreading his disappointment if he was not the child in question. However, as they got closer to leaving for Asgård, Tamara realized it should be his choice to find out, not hers, so she sent him a message, asking him to meet her as soon as possible.

Remy arrived at the tower a short time later, and was immediately directed to the private elevator by security. Tamara met him and the two went to her room where she could talk to him without interruption. He had brought her some more fudge as a treat and the two shared it as she tried to figure the best way to bring up the Norns.

"Tamara, you are as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs."

"Sorry Remy, it's just, Thor got a letter from Asgård and now we're all going there. It turns out I have three living relatives, although they may be very distant relations. That's one thing I'll find out in Asgård, who they are."

"That is a good thing, why would you worry?"

"Well, the message didn't give the names, just very vague descriptions. It stated that one lies injured, much like the Odin sleep, we think they mean that person is in a coma. It also states that one of them is an Avenger, specifically, one of Thor's fellow warriors but it doesn't specify male or female so it could be any of them."

Tamara sat and looked carefully at Remy, trying to see if anything in him seemed familiar, beyond the years she had known him.

"And the fourth child, did they say who it was?"

"No, not even to tell if it was male or female. The letter said the fourth child was known to me as someone with the power to control energy. I know quite a few of the X-Men now and several of you have powers related to controlling energy."

"But you think it is me, no _cherie_?"

"Yes, I do; Remy, ever since we met I felt like I knew you, that's why I was so willing to stand up to Logan and Marie when we first met. I may be wrong, it may not be you; but I wanted you to know anyways, and to ask if you want to come with us to Asgård."

Remy took Tamara's hand and pulled her into a hug, "_Cherie_, it matters not what others say, in my heart, you are my sister, words will not change that. And I am pleased you asked me to come, but I am needed here, if all of you are gone, Charles will need to watch things more carefully. Will you be gone long?"

"No, we leave in the morning and we plan to be gone three days, Pepper and Jake are going with us. You sure I can't talk you into coming?"

"I would not leave this place undefended. With all of you gone, who knows what trouble could happen? What of your Director, how does he feel?"

Tamara giggled, "He's not happy at the idea of Tony being turned loose in Asgård, he's worried something will happen. But he doesn't know Tony like we do, besides, Pepper will help keep him in line. I went out last night and found Spider-man, warned him we would be gone for a couple days. He's spreading the word to all the others he knows around here, so they aren't surprised if something goes down and we aren't here. But I have a feeling things will be peaceful for once. Be careful Remy and give my love to everyone."

"You be careful, and come home to us, it would not be the same without you around to make life interesting. Oh, Hank asked me to deliver this letter to you, something about the tests you wanted him to run." Remy handed Tamara a thin letter and quietly left the room, seeing only Jake on his way out.

Tamara took the letter and stuck it in her pocket, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what Hank had found out, what if it was bad news? She checked her small bag once again, Thor had assured them that they need not take much, clothing for court would be provided but she wanted to take a few things anyways, especially sketching supplies. As she heard the others gathering for supper, she made her way into the kitchen to join them.

"So Tamara, JARVIS tells me your friend Remy stopped by?"

"Yeah, he did, Thor asked me if I had any idea who that last child might be, I think it may be Remy so I invited him to go with us, but he refused. He said it doesn't matter what the Norns say, we are a family in our hearts. He also had a letter for me from Hank, but I haven't looked at it yet."

Bruce and Tony both knew about Tamara's concerns and the tests that Hank had planned to run on Tamara's DNA but neither one said anything. As the small group sat down to enjoy a light supper, Tamara's thoughts kept returning to the letter in her pocket. After supper, everyone headed off to bed, knowing Thor was anxious for an early start. Tamara held the letter in her hand, but again, decided against opening it. Just before going to bed, she slipped the letter into her jewelry box.

As usual, Steve was up early but he was no longer alone on his morning runs. Clint had taken to joining him sometimes when he was home and recently Tamara had started joining them as well. As she met the two at the elevator, she could hear them discussing where to run this morning. As the elevator reached the ground floor, the two men still hadn't decided so Tamara took matters into her own hands, swinging into a soft loping stride designed to cover a lot of ground quickly. She had gotten bored with a lot of their usual runs lately and had been feeling restless so she took a route they had been avoiding due to construction.

As Tamara ran past the construction site in her tank top and shorts, she heard the whistles begin but she heard them stop just as quickly as Clint and Steve joined her, each one slipping to his preferred side. She allowed it for a minute, then feeling the restlessness in her soul, she began to pull away into the crowd of early morning workers. As she ran, she jumped and dodged obstacles as she encountered them, fully aware of her surroundings and that Steve and Clint had again caught up quickly. She was enjoying this game, almost a hunt, so she led the two of them in a loop headed back to the tower.

She stopped at an old brownstone a few blocks away and began to climb, knowing they would follow. When she reached the top, she took off over the roofs, finally coming to a stop a block away from the tower. She wasn't surprised by who she found waiting, although Clint and Steve both were. As they caught their breath, Tamara moved to join Spider-man at the edge of the building.

"Spidey, figured it was you I felt tagging along, you get the message out?"

"Yeah, words going out now as we run into each other. So three days and you think things are gonna be calm? What's gonna happen when someone figures out you guys are all gone?"

"The only one people really know is Tony and that's already taken care of. JARVIS has a program to make it look like we're still around the tower and he can even fly the suit remotely. There's only a few people who will know we aren't really there, and I've arranged for a little help to watch over the city. Don't get surprised by the people you see around, they're old friends."

"You tell them about me?"

"Nope."

"Just who are these friends and how will I know they are who they claim to be?"

"Easy, Remy is Gambit and Marie is Rogue, they're X-Men and I have no idea who else might show up. Now, did you get the rest of the message out, about the medical help?"

"Yeah, but not sure how much you might see anyone. Most of them aren't too trusting of strangers, even if they are known as the Avengers. I mean, we keep our family and friends safe by hiding who we are, it's the only way we survive."

"I know, but they have to trust someone sometime. And it's hard to keep a secret from me, I already know who a couple of you are and as I meet others, I'll figure it out. Peter, tell Red I know where to find an attorney if I need one, he'll understand."

Before Spider-man could react to the fact that she had just called him Peter, Tamara was running back across the roof to join Clint and Steve, leading them down and home. As the three returned to the tower, the sun was fully risen and the day was turning out to be beautiful, although chilly. Tamara paced around the elevator as it made its way back to the Avengers levels, then she left before either man could say a word. When she had finished her shower, she grabbed her bag and joined the others in the main room. Toi paced alongside Tamara, excitement evident in the quick snap of her tail as she watched them gather.

As Thor paced, eager to be off, the small group took the elevator to a waiting quinjet that Fury had Clint bring back the night before. Aboard the jet it was only a short flight to the New Mexico desert where the small group transferred to a stretch limo that Tony had arranged for Happy to pick up. Happy drove them all into the desert to the coordinates Thor gave them for a Bifrost portal, then he waited as the group gathered their bags. They joined Thor in the circle and upon his instructions, shouldered their bags and held hands. A sudden flash of light was Happy's only warning to cover his eyes from the billowing dust; when he uncovered them, he was staring at empty desert.


	2. Asgård

The team was engulfed in a swirl of colors unlike anything they had ever seen as they traversed the Bifrost. When things came back into focus, they found themselves standing inside a massive copper colored dome. Standing before them was a massive black man wearing armor that matched the color of the dome. He pulled a huge sword from the stand in front of him as Thor walked across the room to greet him.

"Heimdall, my friend, may I have the honor of introducing my Midgårdian companions. You have met Tamara before and the good Captain; this is Tony Stark, the Man of Iron; Natasha Romanoff, known as the Black Widow; Clint Barton, known as Hawkeye; Bruce Banner, known as Hulk. This is Miss Potts, she is in charge of Tony's mortal business while Jake Alwyn here serves as team doctor."

Heimdall inclined his head in greeting, "Welcome to Asgård. I am pleased to see you again, Lady Tamara, and pleased you have brought the cat with you, she is far more than she seems. Odin has sent carriages since we do not know if any of you ride."

Thor led them outside where they found several carriages awaiting them. Sif and the Warriors Three rode up with a horse for Thor as they exited the building. Tamara tossed her bag into a cart with everyone else and climbed into the first carriage. Steve, Jake and Bruce joined her while Tony, Pepper, Clint and Tasha got into the second carriage. It didn't take long to reach the palace and they were ushered inside where Thor led his friends to the guest wing. A team of servants waited to greet them and to lead them each to their own rooms.

"Friends, I will meet you here in one hour so that I may present you to my parents. My mother has arranged for court clothing to be brought for your use. The clothing is spelled so it will fit to you."

Thor left his friends and made his way to his own rooms. He changed out of his armor into more comfortable clothing suitable for court. He returned to the rooms assigned to his friends and found them all gathered in the hall. The ladies looked lovely in Asgårdian dress while the men looked slightly uncomfortable in the unfamiliar clothing. Only Jake looked comfortable as he waited with the others and it made Thor wonder when he had worn clothing such as this.

Thor led his friends not to the throne room but to his mother's private garden where she had arranged a light snack for everyone. Since Tamara had already met Frigga previously, she rushed through the door to stop breathlessly inside the gate. She bowed low as a sign of respect and Frigga inclined her head in greeting.

"My lady, I am honored to return to your fair realm."

"Come child, let me see how you have fared." Tamara approached the Queen as the others entered more slowly and she was rewarded with a bright smile. "I am glad to see you well, my dear. Loki has asked if you will visit him but I told him he need not bother." Before Tamara could respond, Frigga pointed to a quiet corner, where Tamara saw Loki seated beside a small pool of water.

Thor approached his mother and was rewarded with a warm hug as Tamara made her way over to join Loki by the pool. He introduced each of his team mates to his mother but was a bit surprised by her reaction to Jake. It was evident she knew him for what he was and not as a normal human but she said nothing in front of the others. As he spoke to his mother, he was also watching over Tamara, ready to act if she seemed to be in danger from Loki. However, Loki was on his best behavior so after a few minutes, Thor let his attention wander to his friends. Steve had noticed that Tamara was alone with Loki so he made his way over to join them, to be followed shortly thereafter by Tony.

It had been two weeks since Tamara's abduction and she was still skittish about being around strange people, yet she showed no fear of Loki. As Steve approached them, he noticed that Loki had bandages covering both hands and he was careful not to use them much. "Loki, look, I know it doesn't mean much but thank-you, for sending me to Tamara. She would have died out there, alone if not for you."

Tony had joined them just in time to hear Tamara ask Loki what happened to his hands. Loki tried to pull them away but Tamara held them lightly, then started to unwind the bandages.

"No, don't, please."

"Loki, let me help you, why haven't they healed you, why do they continue to allow you to suffer?"

Tamara didn't really expect an answer so she was surprised when a deep voice answered her, "Because he is blocked from all magic to protect him. The only way to prevent his being taken again is to block all contact he has with magic, unfortunately, this means he must suffer as his body slowly heals itself."Tamara looked up to see Odin walking over to join them. "His wounds are from the night you were taken, he fought against the magic blocking his powers. In the process, he was burned by the magic as it fought with the spells around him, and he was exposed to the magic of the ones who held him prisoner, they wounded him again before I was able to block all magic around him."

"Will my power heal him?"

"I don't know, it is not magic like we know, so it is possible."

Tamara had finished unwrapping Loki's hands and everyone could see them, the skin still blistered by magic fire. Until they saw the damage for themselves, it was easy to believe that what Loki did was a little thing. Tamara gently took his hands in hers and Loki tried not to flinch at the touch. She closed her eyes and bowed her head and only Steve could see that she had tears in her eyes. Her hands began to glow softly, then just a little brighter as the glow enveloped Loki's hands and spread up his arms. He looked surprised, but then he relaxed as the glow slowly faded. When the glow had vanished completely, Loki's hands were no longer injured, although still painful by the way he moved them gently.

"It will take time for the pain to fade but the injuries are gone now. The nerves are overstimulated and I am not familiar enough to heal that damage."

"Thank you, you have done more than enough for me. It is only because of you that I am even a little free from those who held me."

"It was the least I could do, you were suffering because of me."

Loki gently took Tamara's chin in his hand and turned her to look at him so he could see the tears glistening in her eyes. "I do not regret my choice, and I would do it again. You are special and I owe a debt I can never repay."

They were interrupted then by a servant entering the garden to announce that Lady Sif and the Warriors Three were seeking admittance. Frigga allowed them to enter and join the reunion as she went to Loki's side. Odin left the garden, for he had to run the kingdom; as much as he wished to visit with his son's friends, his duties must come first.

The small group stayed in the garden for hours, with the Avengers hearing tales of Thor and Loki as boys while sharing tales of their experiences on Earth. As the sun began to set, they were ushered inside to share a quiet dinner with the royal family. Once dinner was over, Thor showed them back to their rooms and informed him he would join them again in the morn. The team was glad to sleep, for although they had been excited, they found something in the air made them feel safe and tired.

The next morning Tamara was awake early and she found a young serving lass waiting for her with breakfast. When she inquired about the others, she was informed that they still slept so she asked for the whereabouts of Lady Sif. The serving girl told her Sif was in the stables and offered to show her the way. Tamara was anxious to both visit Sif and the stables, so she readily agreed, leaving a note for her friends. As she followed the girl to the stables, she noticed that Toi was in her natural Asgårdian form and not the form she usually wore around others.

The young girl led Tamara to the stables where she found Sif carefully grooming a beautiful gray stallion. The horse snorted nervously as they approached but Sif calmed him easily.

"Tamara, I am glad to see you this morn."

"Thanks, I'm glad to see you again as well. Are you going for a ride, I was hoping to get a chance to go riding myself."

"Of course, just see the stable master and he will have a groom bring you a horse." Sif pointed to a small, stooped older man in one corner, tending to a young mare. Tamara approached him carefully and watched as he soothed her as he tried to look at her feet. Tamara noticed she was limping slightly and felt sorry for the poor creature.

"Can I help, I see she is limping."

The older man looked at her, then nodded, "She is calmer around females, she is still young."

Tamara approached them carefully and allowed the mare to sniff her hand before leaning over and gently taking the horse's head into her hands. She breathed gently in the horse's face and watched as the horse snorted in surprise, then she began to stroke her carefully, before sliding one hand down to lift her leg. When she picked her foot up, she noticed a small rock wedged into her hoof; holding out her hand, she was pleased when she was handed a hoof pick. She removed the stone, then reached one finger to the bruised hoof, gently allowing a little healing magic to seep into the hoof and ease away the pain.

The old man nodded, pleased with how Tamara had handled the frightened young mare. "You're the mortal girl Thor has befriended. I heard you are an animal friend as well and see he did not exaggerate."

"I can't bear to see any creature suffer, not when it is a simple matter to ease the suffering. Lady Sif told me to request a horse from you so that I may go riding with her."

"I am Bran, milady, head of the stables here. I can see you have some knowledge of horses but how well do you ride?"

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance Stableman Bran. But please, just call me Tamara. As for my riding, I have not been able to ride much for several years but before that I was able to ride almost daily. My mother insisted I be able to ride, even though the Rom seldom use horses any longer."

"I am familiar with your Rom, they are a horse peoples. Go to the paddock on the east side of the barn, whistle and a suitable mount shall approach. Will you need a boy's help to saddle the horse?"

"If it will not bother you, I would prefer to ride bareback with just a light hackmore. I miss the feel of thunder beneath me and a saddle would only hinder me. But I would request a mount that does not mind cats as I wish to take Toi along with me." Tamara indicated Toi who was in her normal form of an Asgårdian snow cat.

"Ah, is this the little one my sister found? I know she was given to Thor as a gift for someone but we had not seen her around. Simply take the cat with you, she will not bother the horses and only those familiar with the cats will approach. I will provide a blanket so the cat may ride in comfort. It would please my sister to see the cat is well."

"Thank you kind Bran, and I would like to meet your sister later, Toi is a loyal friend and companion."

Bran nodded and limped off, returning in moments with a sturdy blanket and a soft hackmore and reins. He handed these to Tamara and indicated a door on the eastern wall. Tamara exited the stable and found herself in a small stabling yard with a large pasture beside it. Remembering what Bran had said, she put her fingers to her mouth and whistled sharply. She saw movement on the the far side of the field and saw three horses approaching. As they got closer, one stopped and snorted, then veered off, leaving only the other two to continue.

When the two horses reached the fence, Tamara studied them. One was a young dark chestnut stallion with a white blaze on his forehead, the other a pale gray older mare. The two horses waited patiently as Tamara studied them, trying to decide which would be a better mount but Toi decided it for her by approaching the mare and rubbing noses. The young stallion snorted and pranced but didn't move off while the mare blew contentedly as Toi weaved in and out of her feet. Seeing the mare was more comfortable with Toi, Tamara opened the gate and the mare followed Toi out while the younger stallion raced off to rejoin the others grazing.

The mare dipped her head low and Tamara slipped the hackmore over her head before flicking the reins over her neck. She set the blanket on her back but didn't mount yet, although Toi quickly jumped up and took a seat on the mare's back. Tamara led the mare back into the stable where she found Bran waiting.

"I thought it would be her who answered you, did any others come to your whistle.?"

"A young dark chestnut stallion did but he seemed a bit restless around Toi. This mare wasn't bothered a bit by Toi underfoot."

"Her name means Ashes, for her coloring. She is growing older so no longer is used for hunts but yes, she is used to the snow cats. She was my sister's mount for many years, her husband is Master of the Hounds, come, let me see your experience before you leave with Lady Sif."

Tamara obediently mounted the mare, then began to guide her in a few circles, changing directions upon Bran's command. After a couple of turns, Tamara could see just how well trained the mare was so she dropped the reins and allowed them to lay flat upon Ashes' neck as she guided her in turns with just leg pressure.

"Excellent, you may ride any horse in the stable, except those with a crest upon the door. Those belong to specific people, such as Lady Sif's horse."

Sif had her horse saddled and was waiting for Tamara as she rode out of the barn. She nodded her approval when she saw Tamara's mount and led them off towards the nearby woods. Once they reached the woods, Sif stopped and jumped lightly to the ground, walking around carefully before remounting.

Tamara guided Ashes closer to Sif, "You're not just out for a ride, are you?"

"No, there were reports of a large number of boar in this area. I offered to scout them out so that we may have a hunt for the Queen's naming day feast. I have found the trail and they seem to be heading for the lake. Come, we will return to the stables so that the hunt can be sounded." Sif turned her mount around and rode slowly back to the stables with Tamara following her.


	3. Hunting

When they reached the stables, Tamara carefully brushed Ashes and returned her to the paddock, then headed back to her room with Toi following. When she reached the wing assigned to the Avengers, she was a bit surprised to find Thor already awake and waiting for her.

"Good morning Tamara, you slept well?"

"Wonderfully, I hope no one minds I went to the stables. I took a short ride with Sif and I met your stable master Bran."

"Master Bran is a good man, did he find you a mount to your liking?"

"Yes actually, I got to ride a mare called Ashes but he said I could ride any of the horses not personally owned. Sif says there will be a hunt for the feast, can I come, please?"

"That is why I am here, I thought you would enjoy joining us, along with anyone else who wishes to come. My mother can arrange suitable attire for you to wear on the hunt but you will need a different mount, Ashes can no longer keep up with the pack."

Loki had joined them and overheard the last statement, "She is welcome to use my mount, I am unable to participate without full use of my hands. I will give her a charm so he will allow her to mount but you must be gentle with him, he has never known a harsh word or hand."

"You honor me with your trust, what is his name?"

"_Villieldr,_ in your language it means Wildfire. He is a beautiful horse and full of spirit, he will carry you safely."

Tamara followed Loki to his quarters where he gave her a small charm to wear around her neck. "I would not have you use a weapon from the armory. Can you wield a crossbow, I fear you are not strong enough for a boar spear."

"I can hunt with a crossbow just fine and I know how boar are, I'd prefer to keep my distance if possible."

"Excellent, I do not think your friends will have much knowledge of hunting but I saw your memories, you were often forced to hunt just to survive, weren't you?"

"Yeah, and when failing means not eating, you get good fast, plus I hate to see animals suffer, I won't take a shot if I think I will miss."

Loki brought out a crossbow and handed it to Tamara, She took it carefully and tested the draw weight, finding that she was able to pull it with only minor difficulty.

"It was mine when I was younger, Mother uses it sometimes when she goes with the hunt for birds, she is a very good shot." Loki handed Tamara a small quiver full of bolts for the crossbow. "Please be careful, I do not wish to see you hurt."

Tamara could see that Loki truly did care so she gave him a slight hug which he did not resist. "I promise to stay near Thor. I will take good care of your horse and your weapon."

Tamara returned to her room carrying the crossbow and found leather armor laid out for her. The serving girl who was waiting to help her dress informed her that it was armor that Sif had worn when she was younger. As Tamara changed into a soft tunic and leggings, she wondered a bit why everyone was being so nice to her, then just decided to just accept it. Tamara carefully strapped her dagger to her waist and made sure both bracelets were secure around her wrists, she knew how dangerous boar could be and she wanted to be prepared in case of accidents. Once she was dressed, she ventured from her room to find the others all gathered. Tony had been invited to attend court that morning with Bruce and Pepper but the others were all interested in at least following the hunt. Tamara carefully picked up the crossbow Loki had handed her and slung the quiver over her shoulder. She noticed that of the others, only Clint was armed as well and he was carrying a large bow and quiver.

Thor entered the wing, followed by Hogun. "My friends, are you ready for the hunt? Come, we are off to the stables."

As the others followed, Thor led the way to the stables. Tamara was used to hunting parties so she was not overwhelmed by the large crowd of people, horses, and dogs. One dog walked boldly over to Toi and sat down abruptly, then began to wag its tail in greeting. Toi sniffed it cautiously, then rubbed her muzzle against the dog's side before slipping off to follow Tamara.

Thor led Tamara to a quiet corner of the stable where she found Bran waiting with a beautiful blood bay horse. Tamara walked carefully up to the horse, bringing out the charm that Loki had given her. The horse inclined his head to sniff at her before he shifted restlessly. Bran had already slipped a bit-less hackmore over his head and saddled him, so Tamara led him outside so she could mount. She noticed that he had a peculiar blanket and pad covering his rump but when Toi leaped up onto the pad, she realized it was specifically for hunting cats. She mounted Wildfire once she got outside and guided him towards Thor's booming voice.

Wildfire shifted nervously in the crowd but calmed easily when Tamara moved him from the pack. Tamara could hear whispers in the back of the crowd but she ignored them, and finally found Volstagg on the edge of the crowd mounted on a large dark brown stallion.

"Tamara, I am surprised to see you here."

"I'm no stranger to the hunt Volstagg. Back home, I often had to hunt to survive."

"That's not what I meant, I was referring to seeing you mounted on Wildfire, Loki has never permitted another to ride him."

"Oh, well, I did promise to be gentle with him, but tell me more of these boar we hunt."

"Do they have wild pig on Midgård?"

"Yes, I have hunted them in the glades before. They can be vicious when cornered or when piglets are present."

"Yes, well the boar here are much the same but I think you will find they are larger than what you are familiar with."

"Just how large are we talking?"

"Well, the average adult sow is around 1200 lbs with the boars running a little larger, usually around 1500 lbs."

"So instead of the size of a large dog, we're hunting wild boar the size of horses. OK, do they have the same weaknesses and vital points?"

Further talk with Volstagg was interrupted by the sound of a horn blowing and the hunt was off. The hunt master led them to the area Sif had scouted earlier and then massive hounds were unleashed. The hounds began to track the boar and soon the prey was spotted. As promised, Tamara stayed close to Thor and Sif as the hunt went after the wild boar. Tamara saw several go down to hunters and the group following the pack grew smaller. Thor had sighted a boar with part of a spear sticking from the shoulder and was off in pursuit so Tamara followed. Wildfire had no trouble keeping up with Thor's mount as they followed the boar into a ravine.

Tamara became nervous when they entered the ravine and carefully eased Wildfire to a halt, then unslung the crossbow and fit a bolt to it. She made sure the quiver was hanging securely from the saddle where she could easily access it and drew back the drawstring as she listened for any hint of the boar's whereabouts. She heard Thor's horse nearby and then a pained whinny along with the enraged squeal of the boar. Tamara dropped the reins on Wildfire's neck and he moved carefully towards where they heard the noises. Wildfire poked his nose through some brush and she saw Thor on his feet, boar spear in hand, his horse behind him standing on only three legs, a long bloody gash running down his chest into the right foreleg.

Tamara heard rustling in the nearby brush and Thor turned, spear in hand, as the boar emerged. As it raced towards him, he braced himself and thrust the end of the spear into the ground. Tamara leveled the crossbow and managed to fire off two shots before the boar reached Thor. It veered slightly at the last minute and the spear only pierced the shoulder instead of the chest as intended. Tamara leaped down from Wildfire and pulling her dagger, she willed it into a sword. The boar was driving the spear deeper into its shoulder as it tried to get at Thor while he fought to keep the spear braced. Tamara heard more noises behind her and was surprised when Toi raced past her and jumped to the back of the boar and began to rake and tear at it with her claws. Tamara could see blood on Thor's arm where the boar had managed to reach him with a tusk. She knew Thor was unable to deliver a killing blow because only his hold on the spear kept the boar from reaching him and doing serious damage. Toi was all over the boar's back, tearing deep gashes through the thick hide. Tamara tried to stab the boar but the hide was so thick she was unable to do much damage.

The boar reared back suddenly and Toi was thrown from its back. Thor was forgotten as the boar turned on Toi, blood dripping down its side from the furrows that Toi's claws had dug. Before Toi could regain her feet, the boar was upon her, stomping at her with its hooves as it tried to drive its tusks into her body. There was a loud scream of pain from Toi as the boar managed to reach her tender belly and then she was again thrown to the side, but this time she did not rise. Thor grabbed the sword from Tamara's grip and charged the boar, driving the sword deep into the chest. As the boar fell, he collapsed on top of it, just a few short steps from Toi.

After a few moments, he stood and pulled the sword loose from the dying boar, then allowed it to fall to the ground as he approached Toi. Tamara had stood frozen in shock as Thor killed the boar yet she reached Toi just as Thor did. Toi's fur was covered in blood and she struggled to rise but Thor laid a gentle hand on her side, restraining her. Tamara was frantic when she found a long jagged wound running down Toi's sleek belly along with other smaller gashes down her sides and Tamara began to cry as she stroked her gently. Toi calmed, although she was still in pain, and Thor removed his hand and left Tamara with her. Thor returned a few moments later with a blanket and gently moved the cat to the blanket, then wrapped it tight around her torn belly.

Tamara sat beside Toi as Thor fetched Wildfire and his horse. He urged Tamara to mount Wildfire and then he lifted Toi up into her lap. Gathering the reins of both horses, he stopped to pick up Tamara's sword, then began to lead them back to the hunt. Several minutes later Tamara could hear someone calling Thor's name and he called back. It wasn't long before Sif came into view, followed quickly after by the Warriors Three. Fandral peeled off from the group and returned back the way they had come when it became apparent that Thor's horse was injured.

Sif reached them first and offered Thor the use of her horse but he refused, asking that she confirm the boar was finished. Volstagg accompanied her while Hogun handed him a pouch. Thor opened the pouch and removed bandages, then lifted Toi from Tamara's lap and laid her on the ground. Opening the blanket, he poured cool water over the wound, then wrapped it tightly with the bandages, finally bundling Toi back up. Tamara had attempted to heal Toi but something was preventing her from using enough magic to heal her fully, although she was able to close the gash on Thor's arm and stop the bleeding on his horse. Thor stopped her before she could do any further healing when he saw her sway slightly as she sat beside Toi on the ground.

Several minutes later a wagon came into view along with the hunt master and the other Avengers. As the wagon pulled to a stop, Thor gently lifted Toi and placed her carefully in the back, then lifted Tamara in to sit beside her. Thor took the reins for the wagon as a stable hand took the reins for both Wildfire and Thor's mount to walk them back to the stable. Clint rode up beside the wagon but when Thor just shook his head, he never said a word. Tamara was oblivious to everyone as she sat in the back of the wagon with Toi in her lap.

It took almost an hour for them to return to the stable and when they finally did, they were met by Bran and an older woman. The woman climbed in the back of the wagon with Tamara and Toi and stroked Toi's side before lifting the bandage to look at the wound as Toi lay quietly, barely even whimpering now. The woman dribbled something into her mouth and then Thor carefully picked the cat up and started back for the palace. Tamara was quiet as she followed Thor not to her room but to the healers.

Hakon met Thor as he entered the temple and Thor followed him to a small room. An older woman waited quietly as Thor laid Toi down on a table, then she lifted the bandage to look at the largest wound. Thor spoke quietly to her and when the woman shook her head, Tamara started to cry again.

Thor pulled Tamara to him, stroking her hair as she cried. "Shh, Tamara, it will be fine, they can heal her but she will never be able to bear young."

"She's not gonna die?"

"No, and I told the healer it matters not if she can bear young for she will not be around her own kind. Come, let me take you back to your rooms, and they will bring Toi to you there when they are through stitching her up. She will sleep now but she will be fine, she was very brave to face the boar as she did."

Tamara allowed Thor to escort her back to her room where she found a bath waiting for her. She soaked for some time, until the water began to cool, then exited the bath and dressed in a soft gown. She had missed lunch and had no desire to eat but she found Steve waiting for her with a platter of fruit.

"Thor said you needed to eat, so eat. I'll stay with you until they bring Toi but you need to sleep as well. That's an order."

Tamara stretched out on a small couch and nibbled at some grapes. She was hungry but she was still worried about Toi. She ate very little before she drifted off into a restless sleep on the couch. When Steve was sure she was sound asleep, he moved her to the spacious bed. He got a blanket and draped it over her, settling himself in a chair beside the bed with a sketch pad in hand, just a few minutes before Thor came to check on her. Thor had also gone and cleaned up and he had a long, bright red scratch running down his arm where the boar had gotten him.

"She finally sleeps, good, she should not have done so much healing."

"She was worried Thor, you know how she gets. Are you sure Toi will be fine?"

"Yes, a healer will be bringing her over here once she wakes back up."

"What happened, how did Toi get torn up anyways?"

"I followed a wounded boar; as you saw, they are quite large and a wounded animal is more dangerous. It attacked my horse and wounded it, so I was forced to dismount. When it started to charge again, I braced my spear to defend us but it veered and the spear only pierced the shoulder instead of the chest as I intended. Tamara had managed to strike it with her crossbow but it did not stop the beast. After the spear pierced the shoulder, the boar was unable to reach me, but I had to keep hold of the spear. Tamara attacked with her sword but she has not the strength to pierce the hide. Toi attacked as well, and her attack distracted the beast. When it turned on Toi, I was able to kill it with Tamara's sword."


	4. The Feast

The day was turning to dusk as Tamara awoke from her place on the bed. She started to shift but stopped when she felt a weight shift against her right arm. She turned her head, surprised to find herself on top of the blankets for her bed with another blanket draped over her. Steve was seated beside the bed still, sketchbook in hand as he drew while the weight she had felt shift on her right turned out to be Toi. The cat had been carefully washed and her wounds tended and the shallowest cuts were fully healed. The long jagged wound that Tamara had seen on Toi's belly was now no more than an angry red scar.

When Tamara started to wake up, Steve stopped drawing for just a moment but then returned to sketching scenes of Asgård. Once he knew Tamara was actually waking up and not just shifting in her sleep, he set the sketch pad back down.

"You feeling better now?"

"Yeah, how long has Toi been back?"

"Maybe an hour or so, she was still a bit groggy when the healer brought her in and laid her beside you. We all thought it best you sleep until you woke on your own or until supper at least. They've been roasting those boar all day for the feast, apparently they use magic to speed the cooking up a little. I'm going back to my room now but Thor said someone will come help you dress for the feast."

Tamara just nodded as Steve gathered his art supplies, she was still a little tired but she was relieved that Toi had survived. She lay quietly in the bed, stroking Toi as she dozed. She must have dozed off again because she was awoken by a gentle hand on her shoulder. When she opened her eyes, she found the little serving girl who had shown her to the stables, along with an older woman.

"Come miss, we are here to help you prepare for the feast. I will fix your hair once you are dressed, you are still untouched are you not?"

Tamara was confused, "What, I don't know what you mean?"

"You have never lain with a man before, have you? Thor said you are just this year counted an adult among your people."

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with fixing my hair?"

"There are styles suited for only certain women, such as those for a woman who is married or one who is seeking a spouse. The queen has sent over a selection of jewelry but I think we will go with silver for you, it suits you better than gold."

Tamara blushed, "You mean everyone could know I'm still a virgin, that's embarrassing."

The older woman took Tamara's hand, "Nay, with you being counted an adult among your people, it is a sign to treat you with the utmost respect. Of course, if you are seeking a spouse, there are a few styles that would suit you. But the young men will still want to dance with a maid such as yourself."

"Why me though, why is everyone being so nice to me, I'm just a mutant Midgårdian."

"Miss, you have the healing touch, no matter how it is viewed on Midgård, here you are to be respected and cherished, for it is a rare gift."

Tamara grew quiet, thinking about the difference in how her gift was treated here and how she had been treated in Miami. She allowed the older woman and girl to help her dress, then sat quietly as the woman styled her hair into an intricate braid interwoven with silk ribbons that matched her dress. Once her hair was styled, the woman took out a fine mesh net of silver chain glittering with sapphires and rubies and draped it over her hair so it spilled down the back and covered the braid.

There was a knock at the door and the serving girl went to open it, revealing Thor waiting outside with the other Avengers. Tamara slipped her feet into soft slippers suitable only for indoor wear and went to join the others. Toi jumped lightly down from the bed and followed her out.

"Tamara, I am pleased to see you and Toi both looking well, Mother will be pleased as well."

"Thanks Thor, this may be a weird question but what does my hairstyle mean? The lady who fixed it was talking about different styles for different women and stuff like that."

"I think I know your concerns, and do not fear, she merely gave you a style indicating you are an adult among your people but that you are not seeking a mate."

Thor led the group towards the main hall where huge tables had been set up for the feast. Frigga and Odin were seated at one end of the long hall and they could see lots of people mingling about. Thor turned to the group and indicated they should wait.

"My father wishes me to formally present you to the court. It would be a sign of respect for you to bow before him but I would understand if you do not, as it is not your custom. If you do choose to bow, it only need be a small bow, that signifies respect rather than acknowledging him as superior to you. After I introduce you, you will be escorted to the high table, where you shall enjoy the feast as ambassadors should."

Thor took the lead, standing in front with Pepper and Tony behind him. Clint and Tasha followed them with Steve and Bruce next, leaving Jake and Tamara at the rear. When Thor stepped into the great hall, the room quickly grew quiet. He strode a few steps into the room, then stopped and gestured to Tony to step to his right with Pepper. As he introduced each person, a servant arrive to escort them to the high table for the feast.

"Odin, Allfather, I am honored to present my companions to the court. Tony Stark, known as the Man of Iron and Lady Pepper Potts, steward of his holdings. Natasha Romanoff, known as the Black Widow, a master of hand-to-hand combat. Clint Barton, known as Hawkeye, an archer who skills are unsurpassed. Bruce Banner, known as the Hulk, a mighty warrior and Steven Rogers, known as Captain America, a skilled commander and leader of these warriors. Jake Alwyn, healer." Thor took Tamara's hand in his and led her closer to his parents. "And Tamara Crisco, healer and heart-sister with the snow cat she calls Ming Toi."

Tamara bowed before Odin and Frigga then Thor led her to a seat at the high table beside Loki. Only after she was seated did Thor take his place beside Odin.

Loki leaned over and whispered to Tamara, "Do you know what Thor did?"

Tamara shook her head 'no'.

"He announced to the court that he counts you as a sister. Since neither Odin nor Frigga denied him that claim, you will be treated as a member of the royal family. It was a bold move but it pleases me, it limits those who can seek your hand for even a dance, and prevents anyone suggesting anything more."

"I'll make sure to tell him thank-you later then. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, the pain is almost vanished. Your friend Jake is a most unusual human, but that is not all he is, now is it?"

"Ask him yourself."

Loki studied Jake as the feast wore on but he couldn't quite figure out what it was that made this human different, but he knew the man was not a mutant. His musings were interrupted by the sound of the doors opening and he looked up from his plate. He saw a guard beckon to a serving lass and he whispered something to her. She bobbed her head several times, then quickly left the room. The guard approached the high table and knelt before Odin, placing his right hand over his heart.

"My liege, there are additional guests approaching. Heimdall sends word that the Norns are on the way to the palace."

Frigga took command at once, for though Odin was ruler of Asgård, in matter of the home and guests, Frigga was in charge. "Quickly, bring them wine and fruit, set them a table."

A small group of servants arrived with a small table and three chairs which they placed near the high table but a little behind it. The table was piled high with fruits and goblets of wine, with only a small quantity of meat. Three young serving children were rushed into the room and each took a place beside a chair at the small table.

The door opened again, this time to reveal three women dressed in simple robes. They did not bow to Odin or Frigga, merely walked to the table that had been hurriedly set and each took a seat. The great hall was quiet the entire time until they were seated and then slowly, the buzz of conversation began to resume. It quickly stopped when the largest wild cat Tamara had ever seen walked slowly through the door. It stopped before the high table and looked at Odin before dipping its head in imitation of a bow. It then walked around the high table and stretched out beside the Norns and appeared to go to sleep, but Tamara knew better, she could tell it was watching her or more accurately, Toi.

"Loki" she hissed "what is that cat and why is it staring at Toi?"

"It is one of the mountain cats, they are related to the species to which Toi belongs, but as you can see, they are much larger. They are also very rare and it is considered an honor to be in the presence of one but I know not why that one is here."

"It reminds me of many of our wild cats back home, just a whole lot larger. Just how big is that cat, it's gotta be close to a thousand pounds?"

Her conversation with Loki was interrupted when she felt a paw on her arm, looking down she saw Toi gazing up at her with a questioning look on her face. Ignoring protocol and what everyone expected of her, Tamara slid her chair back and knelt beside Toi. She stroked her back and tickled her ears, something she knew Toi enjoyed, and she was rewarded with a soft rumbling purr. When Toi took a step towards the huge cat, Tamara never hesitated, she had absolute faith in Toi.

Toi led Tamara over to the huge cat and Tamara was in awe at just how massive he was. He was large-boned like a tiger but the face resembled that of a cougar more. Like Toi he had violet eyes, although they were a deeper color than Toi's. The feet were larger than she expected for a cat that size and she could see feathering between the toes which she figured was to help them walk in snow. The head was small and compact and reminded her of Amber and the ears were triangular and stood erect with tufts of fur shielding the tender inner ear. He was a silvery-gray color over most the body but had a darker gray rosettes outlined in black and some black stripes and spots on his lower body. The tail had to be at least a third of his length with black spots and she noticed that he seemed to be very long-limbed in comparison to his body size.

Toi approached the great cat and bowed her head before it, then slowly walked up and nuzzled it. When the cat opened his mouth, it looked as though it could swallow Toi in a single bite but he merely inhaled deeply, as though he were scenting her and it made Tamara wonder if he had a Jacobson's organ like cats did back home. He gently licked Toi's face, then stopped when Toi shifted her weight. Toi walked around him and then began to groom him, and Tamara finally stepped closer. She was close enough that she knew it could easily tear her apart but she wasn't afraid since he had been so gentle with Toi. When she reached out a hand to it, the cat took her hand in his teeth but just held it while it looked at her, as though waiting to see how she would react. Tamara didn't panic, she trusted Toi, and when the cat let go of her hand, she reached up and gently stroked one tufted ear. She began to massage the ear and heard a rumbling noise and stopped, but when the noise did as well, she realized the huge animal was purring.

She was preoccupied with the huge animal and did not notice the way the three women studied her and Toi. But she did notice when Thor came and knelt beside her. The huge cat allowed him to stroke it gently once, then shook its head and Thor backed off.

"Tamara, come, it is time to return to the feast. Do you wish to dance? Only my friends would be so bold as to seek a dance with you now."

"I think I'd rather just watch but I appreciate the offer."

Thor escorted Tamara back to the table and then he joined Sif on the floor for a dance. Tamara watched as Tony and then Clint led the ladies onto the dance floor but she had no desire to join them. She noticed that the healer EIR was present and was pleased when she made her way over to the table.

"Lady EIR, I am pleased to see you again."

"And I am pleased to see you have recovered."

"I would like to introduce you to some of my friends, Bruce and Jake, and you remember Steve, he brought me here with Thor."

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance and I look forward to meeting your other friends later. But for now, I have someone else to see to." With that statement, EIR left them and went to join the huge cat that lay lounging with the Norns.

Tamara was careful with what she ate and drank, taking subtle cues from Loki. But she was tired from the healing she had done earlier in the day so she was glad when Loki leaned over to whisper that they were all leaving the feast to retire to a smaller, more intimate setting. She saw Thor whispering to Tony and then Clint and they exited the hall, followed by his friends. She saw that Odin and Frigga had already left, along with Jake and Bruce, leaving Loki to escort her and Steve to wherever they were meeting.

Loki led them back towards the royal quarters and into a smaller hall lined with comfortable couches and chairs. It had a fireplace at each end and a warm fire was burning. Tamara yawned sleepily and made her way to one of the couches near the fire and got comfortable, then shifted to allow Toi to join her. She had started to doze off when she heard strange voices join the familiar ones.


	5. Interview With the Norns

The strange voices Tamara heard turned out to belong to the Norns who were accompanied by EIR and the huge cat. The cat came and lounged near the fire while the Norns joined Frigga and Odin at a small table. After several minutes discussion, Thor motioned to his friends who went and closed the doors at each end of the hall, then stood in pairs to guard each set of doors. Tamara didn't have time to wonder what was occurring for one of the Norns moved to stand in the center of the room.

Without lifting her head or removing her hood, she began to speak in a soft, gentle voice. "Many centuries ago, Loki and Thor journeyed to Midgård as children with Odin. While there, they saw a young mortal boy defend a babe from raiders. Loki and Thor were impressed with the courage of the boy and when they asked; Odin allowed them to join the battle. The boy was successful in getting the girl child away from the raiders but when he was cornered by several, he was severely wounded. Thor had followed several raiders who were making off with another girl while Loki was left alone with the wounded boy and the babe. Loki had not been studying magic long and his knowledge of healing magics was very rudimentary. The boy begged him to take the babe to safety, willing to give his life for her, though she was not related. Instead, Loki attempted to heal him and although he saved the boy's life, the wound left him a cripple. The babe was a born healer, a daughter of EIR, and the entire raid was an attempt to steal her, for daughters of EIR were rare and valued among the warring tribes. The tribe where she was born was virtually destroyed, yet because of this babe, they were welcomed into a much larger tribe. The boy went to live with the healers since he could not be a warrior and was charged with the protection of the girl. As she grew, they became close and eventually wed; she bore him several children, including another daughter of EIR. But this child was different, for she bore a unique birthmark that has been seen only in children of that line and only on the daughters of EIR. Tamara bears that mark and it is how it was known at her birth that she was special. As she grew it was hidden, for this mark is on the crown of the head."

Another of the Norns moved forward and began to speak, her voice sounded more mature and experienced. "Loki and Thor visited Midgård many times as youth. While Thor was busy exploring the lands, Loki spent much of his time watching the boy as he grew. On occasion he would meet with the boy and as he aged much slower, the boy soon realized that Loki was not mortal but one of those they called their gods. It was with great joy that the boy told Loki of his plans to wed the girl and asked his blessing but Loki did more than that. He had seen that the girl had a good heart and truly loved the boy, even though she was never told he had risked his life to save hers. Loki swore an oath to grant one true desire to that boy, or one of his line, as a gift to the boy before he wed. The boy never had any desires beyond the life he had and when he passed on, it was as an old man. He counted himself as wealthy for he had an abundance of friends and a large family to leave as his legacy. He never told anyone of the oath Loki made, fearing it would be wasted on something foolish. He knew that if the need were great enough, Loki would know when it was time to honor that oath."

The last of the Norns stepped forward, her voice sounded ancient and gravelly. "Over the centuries, most of the lines of the daughters of EIR have died out and the gifts have returned to EIR. Tamara's line is one which has not died out and the other line has only bore male children for so long that the legends have been forgotten. Of the line from which Tamara was born, only four children exist at this time. The first two lines diverged from Tamara's during a time of great death across the old lands. One lies in a sleep, much like the Odin sleep even though he has recovered from his wounds. Another is one of you and we know not for sure which it is, yet we have been given clues. We are here to help you determine which of you is this child. The last child, the one who controls energy, that line diverged in the new lands, when a great war tore the country apart, this child is also known to Tamara. We know not his name, yet he speaks in an unusual tongue at times and has eyes which glow like fire in the dark."

Tamara stood and approached the Norns, then bowed low in respect. "Great ladies, when Thor relayed the message about the child, I had an idea who it might be. His name is Remy LeBeau but he is known as Gambit for he is a mutant among our people. As you described, he has eyes that glow like fire in the dark and his power is the ability to charge items with the kinetic energy stored inside them. When I spoke with him about joining us here, he said it mattered not, for I am his heart-sister. Is there a way to know if he truly is my brother kin?"

The eldest Norn spoke, "Only Loki has the magic to determine that for you. He is connected to the children of the boy he saved and if they were to meet, he would know them once he is free from the magic of the ones who held him captive."

"Thank you great ladies, but which of my fellow warriors is my brother kin, or is it a sister kin I have?"

"You are the only female of the line that remains, your brother kin is a man who has known great suffering and the loss of his parents before he became an adult. He was never trained as a warrior yet he fights to defend his country both with his body and his mind. He has a power unlike any other, it has the potential to do great good but yet it could lead to his death."

Tamara turned and studied the men of the team. "Well, all of you lost your parents before you became adults and all of you have suffered. But Steve and Clint, you both have trained as soldiers so I don't think it is either of you. Tony and Bruce both have a power that no other person has, Bruce has Hulk and Tony has the arc reactor. But I think it may be Tony, because I know if the arc reactor fails it could kill him but Hulk has repeatedly saved Bruce's life by forcing the change, but how do we tell for sure?"

Loki approached the group, "The easiest way to test this idea of yours would be for Stark to state his true desire. If I can feel the magic pull then he is indeed your brother kin, if not, then Banner can state his desire. But I do believe you are correct in that it cannot be either the Captain or the archer and your Widow is very definitely not a brother. Are the two of you willing to try this? The magic binds me to grant a single person of this line what they desire most, it is not the words you say that matter, the magic will know what you truly desire."

Frigga had listened quietly, "I know you have all seen my son at his worst, yet that was not him, he is defenseless against you without his magic. Just as you can be overcome if the enemy is stronger, so can we. Loki is not to blame for his actions, and more than once he fought against what he was ordered to do; instead of killing Thor, he merely wounded him. Yes, he killed many people, but he was not in control, you know not what it is like when you are forced to obey another. Do any of you know the pain of torture, of believing that everyone you love thinks you dead and to give up all hope of rescue. As a mother, I would ask you to help my son, free him from those who abused him, you will find him more formidable as an ally than an enemy."

Tony had listened quietly, as had everyone else but he understood what Loki had gone through. Pepper squeezed his hand lightly, she knew Tony had gone through months of everyone except for three people believing he was dead and so he had rescued himself. "I'm willing to try, how does it work, I just say what I wish for?"

"Not exactly, you must say what it is you desire but you must clear your thoughts of anything else, it will not matter if there are other things your heart desires, but you must truly want what you ask for."

"Do I need to do it now or can it wait, I would like to discuss it with the team first. If we can free you of this hold, what will you do?"

"I would like to accompany you back to Midgård, to help protect your people. I cannot bring back the dead or undo what I have done, but I can try to make up for it. I fear the ones who held me will attempt to destroy your planet, they do not take losing very well. All I ask for is a second chance, but I must warn you, although I will never harm any of you, sometimes I just can't stop myself from playing tricks."

The youngest of the Norns spoke again, "Before you leave to discuss this matter, there is another matter to discuss but it may be difficult. The mountain cat is here for a purpose but only Tamara can fulfill that purpose because Toi is bonded to her. The cat is dying, slowly and painfully, and he seeks the release of his _andi-sik_, what you might call the soul. He has the ability to pass certain gifts of his kind to another upon death, and he has traveled here because Toi is the most worthy of his smaller cousins. The choice is Tamara's alone, he came to EIR seeking to the death-blow but if Tamara chooses to do this for him, he will be able to pass his gifts to Toi. It is a great honor, both to be asked to aid one of these great creatures, and to receive such a gift."

Tamara looked at the huge cat, then down at Toi, she could feel the sadness radiating from Toi. Kneeling beside the beast, she took its head in her hands and stroked it gently while using her healing touch to read how it suffered. The cat chirruped softly at her, then rubbed his head against her shoulder, almost knocking her down in the process. She could feel his pain, and knew that he had not sought the death-blow sooner because he somehow knew his gifts were needed. She nodded softly, accepting the task of easing his pain, not caring one bit that Toi would benefit.

EIR joined Tamara beside the cat, "Come child, you must rest now. He wishes to be freed when the moon rises high in the sky, he would join you in rest until then."

Tamara left the room with EIR, Toi and the cat following them back to her room. Tamara climbed into the massive bed and Toi joined her, snuggling her head under Tamara's chin like they did at home. The big cat hesitated for only a moment before climbing into the bed with them, stretching his body out on his side and resting one paw lightly over Tamara's shoulder. EIR pulled a chair close to the fireplace and began to hum softly; in no time, Tamara was asleep. While she slept, she dreamed she could feel the great cat padding through her thoughts as though reassuring himself he had chosen correctly.

EIR woke her several hours later and Tamara dressed not in a fancy dress, but in the hunting clothes that Sif had lent her. EIR led her out to a balcony and the huge cat followed, then stretched himself out in the moonlight. EIR handed her a simple knife made of pure silver. "You must make a swift cut, severing the jugular; as he bleeds, a stone will form from his blood. It will be small but you should take this stone and present it to Toi, she will know what to do. No one can help you release him, or touch the stone but you. In the wild, the one he had chosen would bite his neck to sever the jugular but with a bonded friend, it is different."

"What will happen to Toi? I mean, I know he wouldn't harm her."

"To be honest, I know not, for Toi has been altered by your blood when you bonded. Usually, the gift brings a longer life and faster healing, better skills in battle, they can inherit the knowledge of the giver."

Tamara knelt beside the massive cat and softly stroked his side. He purred softly, then more strongly as Tamara began to cry just a little. But she could feel his pain and knew he needed this, she reached under his chin and rubbed his throat as his purr turned to a loud rumble. When he tipped his head back, she drew the silver knife across his jugular in one swift move. She watched the light in his eyes fade as his blood spilled on the ground and began to pool; it began to form a small stone, no bigger than a marble. To Tamara's surprise, the body of the dying cat began to fade out as the stone formed and when the stone was fully formed, it vanished completely.

Tamara gently picked up the small stone and showed it to Toi. Toi sniffed at the stone, then tapped it with a claw, causing a small piece to split off. Toi nudged that piece aside, then picked the larger piece up in her mouth and swallowed it. '_Sister, he gives you a gift as well, swallow this and it will strengthen our bond.' _Tamara never hesitated, she picked up the small piece of stone and placed it on her tongue, then swallowed it quickly. Tamara followed EIR back to her room and climbed into bed, in no time at all, she was again asleep.


	6. The Trials of Asgård

It was late when she awoke the next morning and the little serving girl was seated by the fire, watching her as she slept. When she saw Tamara was awake, she ran quickly from the room, only to return a few minutes later with Thor. He said nothing as he waited for her to dress but when she returned to the main area, she found breakfast was waiting for her. Toi jumped down from the bed and padded softly over to Tamara, jumped into her lap and then nuzzled her arm.

_'Sister, I know what the hunter intended but I did not wish to frighten you. Things will seem different to you for a time but you can learn to ignore these changes.' _

_'Why Toi, why me? Why is all this happening to me?' _

_'Only the Norns may know and even they cannot see everything, only the possibilities. And why not you, you are kind and gentle yet you would sacrifice yourself for others. You deserve this gift, I wish to visit Master Bran and his sister later, but I must go alone. Fear not, they will understand when I arrive. Last night, I dream-walked with he who gave us these gifts and I know what to expect but it can wait until we return home. Now hush and pay attention, Thor looks worried.' _Toi nudged Tamara with her nose and she looked up into Thor's deep blue eyes.

"I'm fine Thor, just having a little chat with Toi about what happened last night. What did everyone decide about Loki?"

"They all wish to help him, even friend Hawk; in spite of the pain Loki caused him, he has forgiven him that. They were merely waiting for you to awaken before Tony attempts to free my brother."

Tamara walked with Thor back to the small hall they had met in the night before. Loki was not yet present but the other Avengers were there, along with Sif and the Warriors Three. Odin had arranged a mini-tournament of sorts so that any who wished could see the skills of the warriors whom Thor fought with. There were many who thought Thor had exaggerated the skills of his companions, especially Hawkeye's accuracy with a bow and Tasha's skill at hand-to-hand combat.

Loki joined them quickly after Tamara was awake and he seemed genuinely glad to see her. Tony joined them and got right to business.

"So is there any special way to do this, or do I just state what I want."

"Tony, we know I can free him, if you don't want to try, then I will do it myself."

"It's fine kiddo, besides, we all agree that when Nicky finds out Loki had contact with you before this visit, he might think you were compromised and tricked into this. OK, Reindeer games, my true desire is for you to be free of all oaths you have sworn, except the ones designed to protect Tamara."

Steve was concerned "Tony are you sure that's the best way to phrase it?"

"Fear not Captain, Thor did tell you that I have only given my oath a handful of times. The oath to Tamara, the oath that keeps me prisoner and the oath to Tamara's ancestor are the only oaths I have sworn, that I can recall. Stark's choice of words is wise for it will free me of any oaths I may have sworn while under the power of the Chitauri masters as well, even if I do not recall giving my oath."

"So what now, is it working?"

"Odin must release the shield that is preventing magic from reaching me before we will know. Thor sent .." Loki suddenly screamed and Tamara tried to reach him but Thor pulled her away. As his connection to magic was restored, Loki's hands burst into magic-fueled flame, causing him to scream again. He regained control of his magic causing a green glow to surround his hands; it was a green tinged with red but slowly the red faded away until Loki collapsed into a heap on the floor.

Thor released Tamara when Loki collapsed and she knelt by his side, taking his hands in hers but then she noticed that the burns were slowly fading until his skin was blue, which then changed to match the rest of his skin. "Loki, did it work? Please, talk to me."

"I think it worked, I no longer hear the voice, no longer feel that repulsive touch upon my mind. I must return to my quarters, Odin has shielded them against magic. It is the only safe place for me until Syn can return and determine if the bonds to that creature are gone. Fear not Tamara, Mother sent word to her this morn that Tony wished to try to free me, she will be here soon. I will be able to see the weapons yard from my quarters, I wish to watch you test your skills against our warriors."

Thor led them all out to the weapons yard, passing by Loki's room on the way. When they reached the yard, Tamara realized that Toi had vanished, off to the stables she assumed. A large crowd of warriors was gathered in the yard, some were practicing, although most were just watching.

The first thing they noticed was the targets scattered about the weapons yard and that several warriors were armed with bows. Thor spoke quietly to Clint, then motioned the other Avengers to the side. One of the waiting warriors handed Clint a bow and quiver and arming gear. He slipped the guards onto his arms then tested the draw strength of the bow. Once he was satisfied, he nodded to Thor who signaled the archers to begin. Over a dozen archers each tried the targets and most scored almost perfect bulls-eyes on them, leaving Clint to go last. Clint had watched as the other archers each had a turn, then he moved to the center of the yard. He looked over at Thor and held up 3 fingers, then waited while Thor motioned for two additional rounds worth of arrows were brought to him. Clint added those arrows to the quiver, then settled it onto his back. Pulling his first arrow, he began to fire non-stop at the targets, going through every arrow and hitting each target three times. Even the Asgårdian archers were impressed with his skill, for every single arrow had struck the center of the bulls-eye, in some cases, splitting the arrow already there. Clint rejoined the team and they waited while the yard was cleared of targets.

Then a huge man stepped into the center of the yard. Thor looked over and motioned to Bruce, then spoke softly to him. Tamara saw him shake his head 'no' until finally he gave in. Thor handed him something and he left for a moment, then returned wearing Asgårdian style pants. Thor placed a hand on his shoulder and pointed to the huge man who waited patiently. Bruce shrugged, then started walking towards the man but halfway there, he changed. The man smiled when he saw Hulk and immediately charged. Bruce had gotten better at communicating with Hulk and he understood this was just like training but that didn't stop him from going all out. When the man reached him, Hulk dug in and lifted him over his head, then tossed him aside. The man laughed and got up but he was more wary this time. Hulk just waited to see what he would do and that was enough to provoke the man into charging again. This time Hulk tossed him to the ground and wrestled him into submission. When the man quit struggling, Hulk released him, then started walking back towards the others. The man charged yet again, and this time, Hulk simply punched him, sending him flying across the yard to land unconscious against the far wall. He reached the others and turned, glaring at the man, then morphed back into Bruce who collapsed against Tony's side.

Several men moved to positions around the perimeter and Thor studied them carefully, then waved Tasha over. It was clear he had discussed this with the others because she simply walked into the middle of the yard, then just stood still. One man approached and Tasha just studied him, then she turned and motioned to the others to join them. When they stopped, she was surrounded by six men and Tamara wanted so much to laugh. It was clear that one man was the leader for he swung at Tasha first. She dodged his blow, then attacked one of the others and soon it was a free-for-all with Tasha against the six men. In less than 10 minutes, every one of them was down, some unconscious while Tasha just stood still, breathing heavily. She bowed her head slightly in the direction where Odin was seated watching them before returning to the rest of the Avengers.

Tamara expected Steve or Tony to be next so she was surprised when she felt Thor place his hand on her shoulder. "Tamara, my father wishes to see how you fight, as he has already seen for our companions. Will you demonstrate your skills as the others have done?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but he understands I'm really just the medic, I don't fight unless I have to, right?"

"He understands, and he has asked for only those skilled in the staff to test you. I have faith in your skills, you can beat them all as Tasha did."

Tamara noticed Toi slipping through the crowd until she was under Loki's balcony. When she gave a leap into a tree and began to climb, Tamara realized she could really give Odin proof of her skills. "You want a real show, then have the best one sit it out. I'll go against the others like Tasha did, then I'll go against the best, on my terms."

Thor nodded, then sent a servant over to the clustered men. One stepped aside then the others stepped into the yard, each holding a simple wooden staff. Thor had apparently known Tamara would accept the challenge because he had a wooden staff ready for her. Tamara took it in her hands, then stepped into the center of the group. She bowed in Odin's direction, then turned to face the group of five men. They spread out around her but she just stood still, waiting for one of them to make the first move. When one did attack, it was the one behind and to her left, she countered easily and flowed into an attack on a different man. For several minutes, she countered the attacks against herself and then attacked, until she decided to get serious and she concentrated on taking them out.

Once she had taken out all five of those men, she stepped back over to Thor where she found someone had brought a pitcher of juice out. After she had a couple minutes rest, she stepped back to the center of the yard, but she had a scarf with her. She held her staff in the crook of her arm as she folded the scarf several times, then she tied it over her eyes and ears as a blindfold. She concentrated on her bond with Toi and gradually, things began to come into focus. She tapped the staff on the ground, then waited while the last man walked into the yard. He looked over at Thor, who merely nodded, then he struck at Tamara, who quickly blocked the blow. With this contest being one-on-one, it did not last as long as the other, in spite of the fact that she was blindfolded. In less than ten minutes, Tamara had deprived him of his staff and had him on the ground, her staff at his throat. Pulling the blindfold off, she turned back towards Odin and again bowed, then she rejoined Thor and the others.

When Tamara returned to the Avengers, she found Thor was not present; instead he was off to the side with a servant. It only took a minute before he was back with the others and ushering them inside. He led them back towards their quarters but stopped in the hall and turned to them. "I know you all brought your weapons and armor; there is a matter which requires my attention in Álfheim, it will delay my return to Midgård. Sif and the Warriors Three are accompanying me there but it would please me if you all joined us. My parents have assured me that Pepper will be safe here with Jake."

Pepper nodded, "Go, I'll be fine here, but I want Jake to go with you or at least a healer from here. None of you are invincible and I want help there quickly. And don't even say it, I know Tamara will be with you, but what if something happens to her?"

"You are wise Lady Pepper, Jake will accompany us and you may stay in my rooms in the royal quarters. Syn has arrived to visit Loki, she will confirm if the hold over him is gone. If it is, he will join us in Álfheim, it will be an easy matter for him to teleport there but we shall travel there in longboats."

Everyone hurried to their rooms to change into their armor and gather their weapons. They were all able to suit up rapidly and they gathered in the hall. Thor led them outside to a different part of the castle where they found the longboats were actually flying boats. Hogun and Fandral were in one boat while Sif and Volstagg were in another. Thor had Clint and Tasha join Hogun and Fandral, while he had Bruce, Tony and Jake join him, leaving Tamara and Steve to join Volstagg and Sif. Before they could leave, Toi jumped into the boat with Tamara and curled up in her lap.


	7. Mission of Mercy

The flight to Álfheim only took about two hours and along the way, the Asgårdians explained the situation to the Avengers. Álfheim was home to three varieties of elves; these were the light elves, the ice elves and a very rare and seldom seen subspecies known as cat elves. Trolls had been spotted in Álfheim and they were attacking light elf villages. Odin had sent a group of warriors to deal with that threat, however, Thor was one of the few who knew where the cat elves lived. Word had come to Odin this morning that several cat elves had been captured by trolls, their steeds killed. Some of the captives might include children and Thor was being tasked with rescuing and escorting these elves home.

When they arrived in Álfheim they were met by a single elf who introduced himself as Faradei. Sif quietly informed Tamara that he was typical of the light elves. She told them that most light elves were around 4 ½' tall and around 140-160 lbs. Instead of being stocky like she expected Tamara noticed that the light elves she could see were very slender and willowy so she figured much of their weight had to be in bone mass. Faradei gave Thor directions and the longboats again took off, this time only traveling for about a half hour before Thor had them set the boats down.

Thor had them land in a small ravine at the base of a mountain and they covered the boats to hide them from sight. "We must be careful, the elves may be injured and they do not know you. If you find any, take them and leave immediately, bring them back here. You need to only say one thing to them 'hamarr vinr', it means hammer friend. Jake, I want you to stay here, I do not know what kind of injuries they may have, Tamara, save your healing only for those who are seriously wounded. Faradei says they may have as many as 20 elves captive, if we do find any of their steeds, we will free them as well but the people come first. As for the trolls, kill them or not, but make sure they cannot follow us."

Thor led the rescue party out of the ravine and up the mountain, then divided them into three separate parties. Tamara was placed into the party Sif led along with Clint and Tasha. The Warriors Three were another group while Bruce, Steve and Tony stayed with Thor. Thor continued straight up the mountain while Sif's group went around to the left, leaving the Warriors Three to go up on the right side.

After about 10 minutes, Sif motioned the others close, then signaled for silence. They peered through the bushes at the troll camp where they could see over a dozen of the creatures gathered around a fire. Something large was cooking on the fire and Tamara could feel Toi's anger, making her wonder what the trolls were eating. They waited patiently for the others to get into position, then Sif must have gotten the signal she was waiting for. She stood and charged into the camp with Tasha following her. Clint had found a convenient tree for a perch and was shooting at trolls from above. Tamara followed Tasha in but Toi nudged at her leg, guiding her to one side of the camp where a large covered wagon was stopped. She moved towards the side of the wagon only to see a troll move towards the back.

Tamara drew her dagger and willed it into a sword and prepared to attack but she was stopped by the sound of growling behind her. She turned slightly to see a huge cat, much like the mountain cat that had come to the palace, only this one was even larger. It charged the troll and attacked, tearing at it with both sets of claws until it collapsed. It stood over the body, then gave a soft chirrup, and Tamara hurried to the wagon. It was dark inside but she could dimly make out figures inside so she carefully repeated the phrase Thor had told them.

Taking her sword, she swung at the lock on the wagon but couldn't break it. She started to swing again but caught sight of Steve running her way. He used his shield to smash the lock, then Tamara opened the door and crawled inside. Toi was right behind her and she could better make out the figures crowded into the corner fearfully. Toi stepped forward and mewed, then turned back to Tamara and nuzzled her. This seemed to reassure the captives for they began to move closer. Tamara backed out of the wagon and found Steve standing guard while Sif had several horses.

Tamara turned back to the wagon and took the arms that reached out for her, thinking it was a child. She set the figure on the ground and they ran quickly to Sif who set them horseback. Tamara helped several more down and most ran to Sif who also set them horseback but some stayed. When a much smaller figure was handed out to her, Tamara realized that the first one had to be the adults. Tamara handed the child to a waiting adult who then went to Sif to be placed up on a horse. When no one else was climbing out of the wagon, Tamara climbed back inside to check, only to find a figure with a huge gash in its side, she knelt and placed a hand over the gash and used a little of her power to stop the bleeding. She could hear Sif leaving with the horses and she hoped this was the last of the captives. Steve called to her but she was focused on trying to heal the figure and didn't reply. When she heard a groan from the figure, she gently picked it up and handed it out to Steve, then followed him back towards the edge of the woods.

Toi was beside her most of the time but she veered off and Tamara followed, too busy following Toi to tell Steve she was leaving. When Toi disappeared into some bushes, Tamara started to follow but she was stopped by sight of the huge cat again. It mewed pitifully at her, almost a cry, and she ducked into the bushes following it. When she found it again, it was tugging at the body of another large cat, except this one had wings. The winged cat was severely injured and bleeding as it tried to follow the gray cat. When it collapsed to the ground, the gray cat tugged at its neck, then nosed at its belly. Tamara hurried to the winged cat but she could see its eyes already beginning to glaze in death. The strange gray cat nudged Tamara, then the winged cat's belly and Tamara noticed it was swollen, then she realized the dying cat was a pregnant female. Changing her sword back into a dagger, she took it and began to slit the dead cat's belly open. She heard a noise behind her but she stayed focused on her task, hoping the gray cat would protect her. It turned out not to be needed as the noise ended up being Thor looking for her.

"Tamara, come, we have all the captives, we must leave."

"Thor, I need a hand here."

"What are you doing?"

"She just died, I might be able to save the babies but I need a hand. This gray cat is insisting I help, please, I can't let them die."

Thor took his cloak off and laid it on the ground beside the dead cat, then used both hands to pull the belly open as Tamara cut. Tamara cut deeper until liquid gushed out of the cavity, then she reached inside and pulled out a cub. She laid the wet cub on Thor's cloak and the gray cat started to lick it as she pulled out two more cubs. After making sure there were no more cubs, she turned to find that the gray cat had cleaned off two of the cubs and was cleaning the third. They were mewling softly as Tamara wrapped them loosely in Thor's cloak. She picked the cloak up and cradled it in her arms, then let Thor lead her back to the waiting longboats. The gray cat disappeared along the way but when they arrived at the last longboat, they found Toi waiting for them. Thor easily picked Tamara up and set her inside the longboat with Steve, then joined her as Sif got it airborne.

"What took so long?"

"Tamara found one of their steeds, she was with her as she died but we have something to take back with us as well." Thor pulled one corner of his cloak open and Sif could see the cubs squirming around inside it. Toi edged closer to Tamara and nudged at the cloak until Tamara laid it down in the floor of the longboat. Toi curled up with the cubs and began to groom them, purring softly until the cubs all were asleep.

"How long until we get to their home Thor, these cubs need to eat." There was a sudden flash of green light and Loki had joined them in the longboat.

"Brother, I see your mission was a success. "

"Loki, I have a task for you, you know where the village is, take Tamara and Toi there immediately, she has a litter of newborn cubs for them. Let the chief know that we have rescued their people and I am bringing them home with the help of friends."

Loki held his hand out to Tamara, "Come, cradle the cubs in one arm and take my hand. Your cat can perch on your shoulder, can it not?"

Tamara nodded and picked up the cubs as Toi jumped lightly to her shoulder. Loki took her hand in his and in a flash of green light they were gone.

"Are you sure that was wise, asking Loki to watch over her?"

"My brother may be a trickster but he gave his oath to protect her, he will not allow her to come to any harm."

One minute Tamara and Loki were in the longboat with Thor and then they were in a wooded glade. There were noises around them and then they were surrounded by elves, none of them over 3' tall but all armed. Loki said something to one of them but it was clear they did not trust him. Tamara felt dizzy and weak so she sat down on the ground, not thinking how the elves might react. One thrust a spear towards Tamara but before Loki could react the large gray cat was standing beside her.

_'MINE'_

From the reactions of the elves and Loki it was clear they had heard the cat's mental shout as well as Tamara did. The elves lowered their weapons but did not back off. The gray cat nudged Tamara's arms where she held Thor's cloak, then chirruped several times. A winged cat came out of the forest and approached Tamara warily, so Tamara laid the cloak down gently and pulled it open. When the winged cat saw the cubs it chirruped as well and more winged cats came out of the woods and joined the first. The gray cat picked up a cub and carried it over to the winged cats, repeating the process until all three cubs were before them. The winged cats picked up the cubs and vanished back into the forest.

"Loki, I don't feel so good."

"It is the teleport, it makes some people ill until they get used to it. Just rest and I will stand guard, you are safe here but we must wait for Thor. He will not be long in getting here, they are sending warriors to watch for them now."

Tamara was nauseous from the teleport spell but she was curious about these tiny elves and their winged cats. She sat watching as they waited for Thor to arrive. She was watching one of the tiny elves when she felt something on her arm. Not thinking, she smashed it, but she didn't think anything about it until her arm started to itch. She was scratching absently at her arm when Loki came to join her.

"What is wrong Tamara, why are you scratching like that?"

"Something bit me."

"Let me see," Loki took her arm and pulled the sleeve up, to find a rash spreading across her arm. "Did you see what it was, there are some poisonous insects in these woods."

Tamara pointed to the smashed creature and Loki picked it up with his magic and studied it for a moment. "Just a wood crawler, they are not dangerous. A bite should not bother you at all, I'm taking you back to Thor and the others."

Loki picked Tamara up and Toi was in her arms in a minute. With a flash of green light, they were gone from the glade. Thor was surprised when Loki reappeared in the longboat with Tamara in his arms.

"What happened, why are you back?"

"She was bit by a wood crawler I think, but it has made her ill."

"Sif, contact the others, we need Jake over here, he may know what is wrong with her."

Sif signaled the other longboats and they came to a stop. Sif pulled her longboat up next to the one carrying Jake. "Jake, something is wrong with Tamara."

Jake climbed over into the longboat to where Tamara lay beside Steve on a bench. "What happened, she was fine earlier."

"She said something bit her, when she showed me the creature, I recognized it as a wood crawler, but they are harmless. Look at her left arm."

Jake pulled her sleeve up and saw the rash spreading up her arm and that her face was slightly swollen as well.

"It wasn't that bad a few minutes ago, what is wrong with her?"

"It looks like an allergic reaction, what do these things look like?"

Loki conjured up an image of an insect vaguely resembling a scorpion.

"Bruce, toss my bag over here. That thing looks similar to scorpions back home and they all carry venom but most are harmless to humans." It only took a minute's wait before Thor was handing his bag to Jake. Jake dug through it finally coming up with a small container. He opened the container and pulled out a small tube; opening the tube, he pulled out a cylinder. He reached over and pressed the cylinder against Tamara's thigh, pushing the top to inject her with the contents. He pulled out another of the cylinders and sat down to wait. "We can go on now, I don't know yet if she'll need another injection so I'll stay here."

Steve propped Tamara up against his side to make room for Jake on the bench. Sif pulled her cloak off and laid it over Tamara while Thor guided the longboat towards the elf cat village. By the time they reached the glade, Tamara's face was no longer swollen and she was sleeping, although it was a restless sleep. Several times she shifted and almost fell off the bench but Steve prevented her from falling.

When they arrived at the village, Steve stayed in the longboat with Tamara who continued to sleep. Thor spoke to one of the elves as the others helped the rescued elves climb out of the longboats. The wounded elves were handed out to one of the Asgårdians who carried them over to where the other elves waited. Once all the elves were back with their people, Thor turned to go back to the longboat but was stopped by one of the elves. It spoke to him for a minute, then motioned to another elf to bring Thor his cloak and a wrapped bundle. Thor stowed both his cloak and the bundle in the longboat and climbed back in so they could return to Asgård. It was late in the evening when they returned to the palace but Tamara still slept. Sif led the warriors to report back to Odin while Thor picked Tamara up carefully and carried her back to her room. Loki grabbed Thor's cloak and the bundle and he and the Avengers went back to the quarters assigned to them.

Jake followed Thor back to Tamara's room while the others went to get cleaned up. As they got cleaned and changed into fresh clothing, they all gathered in Tamara's room for supper. Tamara was finally awake but Jake was reluctant to allow her up and about much. Instead, he explained to her that the crawler bite had caused an allergic reaction and gave her one of the epipens and explained how to use it. He also told her it was possible that she would have no problems back on Earth, that her reaction could be just because it was an alien species.

When Thor joined them for supper, he informed them that Odin had contacted Director Fury and let him know that the team would be returning the next morning. Director Fury had not been happy but Odin had decided that they needed a good night's rest before returning home, especially since Tamara had been injured. The team shared a quiet meal, then went back to their own rooms for a good night's rest. When morning rolled around, they were all well-rested and eager to return home. Asgård was a lovely place but they missed many of the comforts of home, including JARVIS and the bots.

Before going home via the Bifrost, Thor informed them that his parents invited them to break fast in the royal wing. The team packed their gear, then followed Thor to the royal wing for breakfast. When they arrived, they found themselves again in the small hall with only Sif and the Warriors Three for company. They enjoyed a quiet meal, talking about the events of the day before and answering questions about their fighting techniques from Odin. Odin also filled them in on the Titans and his belief that it was a Titan who had controlled Loki.

After everyone was through eating, Frigga signaled for a servant who brought a small box to them and set it on the table in front of Odin. Odin opened the small box and pulled out something, then looked at the gathered Avengers. "I enjoyed watching you demonstrate your skills yesterday and I would thank you for your help rescuing the cat elves. I wish to give you all a small gift that I hope will help you protect your world." Odin pulled out a bunch of thin silver rings and laid them on the table. "These rings have been spelled with AllSpeak, it will allow you to understand any language spoken on your world, or this if you should return. Also, while wearing these rings, your speech would be understood by others, if you consciously desire it to be understood. An invisibility enchantment is also woven into them so that when you are wearing the ring, it will not be seen by anyone not wearing a ring. Once you wear the ring the first time, it will work for no other person."

Odin handed the rings to Thor who gave one to each of his friends who pocketed them but Jake declined the ring. "I have no need of it Thor, give it to your lady friend, if Odin will allow it."

Odin nodded and Thor placed the extra ring into his pocket. Odin motioned to Tamara to come forward. "The cat elves sent a gift for you, in thanks for saving the cubs." Odin motioned to Sif where she was in the corner with Toi. "Sif, is the cat ready?"

"Yes my lord."

"Then let Tamara see the gift the elves have bestowed upon them."

Sif stepped aside and to everyone's surprise it was not Toi that stepped forward. Instead it was the large gray cat and it was wearing a harness of sorts that acted as armor for vulnerable areas of the body. The cat stepped forward and nudged Tamara. _'Sister, do you not know me?'_

_'Toi, is that really you?' _

_'It is the gift of the mountain cat, I can become this size through an enchantment now part of me. It is to better protect you, I know many new tricks for fighting as well.' _

"It really is Toi, but what happened, how did she get so big?"

Tamara looked to Odin for answers but it was instead EIR who answered; Tamara had been so occupied with Toi, she never saw her enter the hall. "The mountain cats have sometimes been allies in battle. When they are, we call them war cats. The one who came to us was such a cat but he grew old and wished to pass his knowledge to another. They chose either another mountain cat or one of the smaller snow cats to receive this knowledge. With the knowledge also comes the gift of faster healing and enhanced senses and abilities. But because Toi was affected by the bonding to you, your mutation caused a mutation in her, this is what allows her to change size. She wears the armor of a war cat and you will find her helpful in battle. Plus, the armor will make it known that she is not a wild animal on Midgård. In this form, she will need a name so that others will not know her in her mortal form."

"So we'll be the only ones who know where she is when she's not in this form? OK then, I'll call her Shadow in this form, her coloring reminds me of shadows."

Odin had one more request for the Avengers, "Loki has been freed of the power that held him captive. He wishes to return to Midgård with you. I would ask that you protect him, as you protect Thor, he asks for a second chance. I believe your realm may be in danger of a future attack from Titans. If this happens, you will need a powerful magic user as an ally; Loki could be that ally."

Loki waited quietly beside Odin and Frigga for an answer. Tamara didn't give anyone else a chance to say anything, she stepped forward and took his hand. "I will protect Loki as heart-brother, the same as I do for Thor and the other Avengers." Seeing that Tamara was determined, the other Avengers agreed to help Loki and protect him as well.

Sif quickly showed Tamara and the others how the armor was fastened onto Toi, then the Avengers returned to the Bifrost to return to Midgård. Tamara saw Heimdall watching them as they stepped towards the opening of the bridge. Before placing his sword into the stand to activate the bridge, Heimdall approached Thor and handed him something. Thor knelt beside Toi and fastened a thin decorative chain, much like a leash, to a clasp on the armor, then looped the other end around his wrist. When he stepped forward to enter the Bifrost, Toi followed him. Then, like everyone else, she vanished in a rainbow light.


	8. Loki Returns to Midgård

When the team returned to Midgård, they found a team from SHIELD waiting for them, guarding the Bifrost site. When the SHIELD team saw Loki, they quickly brought their weapons to bear on him. Tamara stepped in front of him and Thor and the others surrounded him as well so it would be impossible for the SHIELD agents to take a shot without the risk of hitting one of the Avengers.

"Agent Hill, we have a problem here at the Bifrost site."

"Report"

"Loki is back and the Avengers are shielding him from us, we do not have a clear shot."

"Do not let them leave the site, I'll notify the Director."

Seeing that they would not be allowed to leave, Tamara decided that they all needed to be more comfortable in the hot desert sun. "Loki, can you make a tent of some sort, just to provide shade for all of us?"

"It can be done, perhaps a large pavilion with pillows so that we may be comfortable while we wait?" Loki focused his magic but Tamara made sure the SHIELD agents could not see that he was working magic. In less than a minute, a large open sided pavilion was covering the Bifrost site and a large carpet was under their feet. There were several low chairs and pillows scattered around, along with a couple of tables. Thor stepped over to the table and took a pitcher, then poured water into a bowl which he sat down for Toi.

"Brother, can you maintain a shield for us while we wait, I do not believe it will take long for transport to arrive."

Loki didn't say anything but almost instantly a glowing green shield appeared around a good portion of the pavilion but leaving a perimeter unshielded. Loki took a seat and after a minute, Tamara did as well. One by one the Avengers and company also took seats and got comfortable. As the sun rose, the temperature outside increased and everyone could see that the agents were uncomfortable in the hot sun.

It was Bruce who decided to take pity on the SHIELD agents. "There's room under the pavilion for all of you, no need to stay out in the sun. You have my word we aren't going anywhere."

One by one the agents moved to take positions under the pavilion. They were clearly uncomfortable to see Loki relaxing with the Avengers so it was a relief for all of them when a SUV pulled up, along with a troop transport. Toi was still in her war cat form and the agents were giving her a wide berth. Agent Hill stepped out of the SUV and approached the pavilion.

"I'm here to escort Loki back to base and a holding cell. The rest of you are free to go, for now."

"No, Loki is under my protection and if you try to harm him, you'll have to go through me first."

"Kid, you're nice enough but Loki is dangerous. I have orders to bring him back to base, under guard."

"Tamara, it will be fine, trust me."

"It's not you I don't trust Loki, it's them. They don't know why you're back or what happened to you and until they do, I'm not leaving you alone with them. Shadow and I will remain with Loki, the rest of you talk to the Director."

"Actually, the Director requests all of you stop by medical to be cleared before leaving base."

Steve stepped forward, "Then Loki can come to medical with the rest of us. We gave Odin our word that he is under our protection. Either he comes with us or we go with him, that's your only options."

"Fine, Captain, if you'll all move to the transport, we can get headed back to base."

Loki removed everything he had created with magic, then moved to follow Steve to the transport. Just before they reached the transport, the Bifrost activated again and this time Sif and the Warriors Three crossed.

"Thor, Odin has sent us to act as guards for Loki, he bids you and your friends speak with this Director Fury. We shall not leave him alone and if need be, Heimdall will provide a way home for Loki."

Sif and the Warriors Three went to join Loki where he waited beside the transport truck. Tony, Pepper and Steve were already in the back of the truck but everyone else had waited outside. Loki climbed into the back and then the rest of the Avengers and Asgårdians also climbed into the back. The last one to enter the back of the truck was Tamara and Shadow followed her, curling up at her feet. Tamara absently stroked her ears, causing her to starting purr loudly and startling the guard who started to climb in with them.

It was a short trip back to the base in the truck. When they arrived, the Avengers and Pepper went to medical to get cleared while Loki was escorted to a holding cell. Sif and the Warriors Three stayed with him but before they left, Tamara removed the thin chain attached to the armor. "Shadow, guard him, no one but us approaches him." The huge cat padded after Loki and the Asgårdians.

It seemed to take forever in medical before everyone was cleared. Only Jake was spared a medical check, mostly because no one knew he had ever been present. Tamara knew he had a way of seeming to vanish when he didn't want to be seen. She also knew that only the Avengers knew Jake had gone with them to Asgård, even Happy didn't know since Jake had told everyone he was going back to Miami for a few days.

The only problem they had in medical was when Tamara's medical tests didn't match the records in SHIELD files. Tony and Bruce both pointed out that she had been changed when she was taken to Asgård after the attack in Central Park. It took time to convince the doctors to send the test results to Beast at Xavier Institute and he confirmed they matched her new baseline, so she was finally released. When Thor was released, he had gone to join Loki while the others stayed with Tamara, not trusting SHIELD not to try to use Tamara in some way. When she was finally released, her first stop was to visit Loki, where she found him comfortable with Volstagg guarding the door.

Director Fury came to find them when the team failed to follow orders and report to a conference room for debriefing. He had not seen Shadow yet and he made the mistake of trying to get aggressive with Loki. Shadow stepped between them and bristled, making herself seem even larger and Director Fury pulled his gun, ready to shoot if she attacked.

"Call your cat down Loki or I'll shoot it."

"The cat does not belong to me, it belongs to one who knows the value of honoring an oath. And you can ask your guards how well it works trying to shoot her."

Tamara stepped up and placed a hand on Shadow, calming the cat and staring the director down at the same time. "The cat is with me and she belongs to no one but chose me as her partner, although she will respond to any of the Avengers. She is a gift from Asgård to help defend this realm, and Loki. As for Loki, he was no more responsible for his actions that Clint was. Loki was held captive by a stronger entity for a long time, until they broke him and forced him to cooperate, you can't even imagine the torture he survived or what finally broke him. All that matters is Asgårdian healers have confirmed he is free of that influence and all of us swore an oath to Odin to protect him whenever he is here and he swore to help protect this planet."

"What proof do we have of this, how can you be sure he's not faking or something?"

Thor was outraged "You doubt the word of Odin? Loki is only still here in this cell because he chooses to be. The magic he used before was nothing compared to what I have seen him do; if he chooses not to be a prisoner, you cannot hold him."

"Director, we're done here, you'll have to take the word of your staff that none of us have been tampered with. As for Loki, if you don't trust the word of the ruler of a realm you want to call your ally, then you don't deserve any of my respect. So which is it, do you trust the word of Odin or not? I can assure you, his healers know far more than we do, especially when it comes to magic. Now, we are going back to the tower, Loki included. And you can tell the WSC to remember, the Avengers don't need their help to defend this planet. We care about one thing, protecting this planet from enemies, foreign and domestic, and that includes stunts like the WSC pulled when the Chitauri attacked."

Steve pushed past Director Fury and one by one, the others started to follow him, including Tasha and Clint. Tamara went to Loki and took his hand, leading him from the room with everyone else. "Loki, can you take us home, all of us?"

"No need for that Tamara, I had JARVIS send Happy out to get us, he's been waiting at a local hotel. Once we leave the base, he'll pick us up and take us to the airport for a ride home."

The team quickly exited the building and headed for the fence around the base. A couple of agents tried to interfere but Loki simply made their guns turn into snakes, which they dropped quickly. Every time someone pointed a weapon at them, Loki changed it into something harmless and they were all starting to enjoy the looks of confusion on the agents faces.

When Agent Hill stepped between them and the gate, she held her hands up to show she wasn't armed. "Are you seriously quitting SHIELD over him? Captain, what about the people he killed and the damage he caused?"

"Agent Hill, with all due respect, you have no idea what kind of torture Loki endured or how long it took for those creatures to break him. Odin asked us to swear to guard Loki and help him atone for the wrongs he committed while he was under the power of the Titans, and we all agreed. Loki has agreed to fight by our side when necessary, and it will be necessary. From what Odin told us, these Titans don't take defeat too well and it's only a matter of time before they come after humanity again. And as I recall, only Clint and Tasha actually work for SHIELD, the rest of us are officially just consultants."

"So now what, what happens to the Avengers without SHIELD?"

"Nothing, I never said we were quitting SHIELD, we're just going home. But we're all tired of SHIELD sending us out for jobs that they can easily handle, just to get publicity. Tony has been doing most of the funding for us along with weapons that are far better than SHIELD can create. We've had contact with other groups and we agree to work together whenever we need to. But we'll also be monitoring things around the world and we won't always wait for SHIELD to contact us. Now, we have a plane to catch, if you don't mind. When Director Fury is ready to listen to us, he knows where we'll be."

Agent Hill stepped aside and watched as the Avengers left the base, along with Loki and the other Asgårdians. As promised, Happy was waiting right outside with an SUV. The Avengers all crowded into the vehicle while the Asgårdians returned to the Bifrost. Happy took the team to the airport where a private jet was waiting and they were soon headed home.


	9. Family Ties

Everyone was quiet on the plane ride home and it was a relief to finally return to the tower where they were greeted by JARVIS and the bots. Loki was given a room on Thor's floor and he made himself comfortable before joining the others in the media room.

"Tamara, if you would like to contact this man you think may be related I can cast a spell to find out for you. I would like to find the other two who are related to you."

"Sure, I already called Marie and she and Remy are headed over. They're staying for supper so I need to get busy cooking."

Tamara made her way to the kitchen and after a few minutes of quiet Loki joined her. He watched as she cooked and they discussed magic, mainly focusing on healing. Tamara was just finishing up when a young woman that Loki didn't know entered the kitchen and tickled Tamara from behind. Tamara turned around glaring but it changed to a smile when she saw who had tickled her.

"I should have known. Marie, this is Loki, he's Thor's brother and the God of Mischief. Loki, this is Marie, also known as Rogue, she's a member of the X-Men and word of warning, don't touch her bare skin, it's dangerous."

Loki simply nodded at Marie, he had noticed that most of her skin was covered but he was confused when Tamara gave Marie a kiss on the cheek. Seeing his confused expression, Tamara decided to explain. "We don't know why but I can touch her bare skin without it harming me, although she will gain my memories. Marie, can you get everyone in here, we can talk after we eat."

Marie left the room and in a few minutes the others began to enter the room, taking places at the huge table. When she returned, Marie was accompanied by a young man with reddish brown hair and glowing red eyes. Loki studied the young man and wondered if he was related to Tamara. "Loki, this is Remy LeBeau, also known as Gambit, he's the one I was telling you about. Remy, Loki is Thor's brother and he's gonna cast a spell later to find the other two who are related to me. Oh and before you ask, yes we found out Tony is related to me, even though the connection is from several hundred years ago."

Everyone enjoyed the dinner that Tamara had cooked and helped clean up afterwards. Once they were done, Loki went to his room while everyone else went to the media room. When Loki joined them, he cast a spell, causing a glow to settle over Tamara for a few seconds, then it split into three glowing spheres. As he expected, one sphere floated in front of Tony while a second ended up floating in front of Remy. The third did nothing at first and this concerned Loki.

"The spell confirms that you are both related to Tamara. The other person must be too far away for my spell to reach them. I can try again but it will be a few days before I can cast the spell again, it is rather difficult to locate someone in that manner."

"No problem, I think Tamara is happy with the results so far. But for now, I think it's time we get some sleep. Marie, you and Remy are welcome to stay the night."

"Thanks sugah but we promised the prof we'd head back after we saw Tamara. Oh and Tamara, we saw Spider-man yesterday when we ran into some mutant trouble on the streets." She tossed a small object at Tamara who caught it easily. "He gave me that and said to tell you that Red says if you think you know where to find him, bring that to him any day. You know how to reach us if you need us."

With that Remy and Marie left the tower to return to the Xavier Institute. Tamara shoved the small object in her pocket without looking at it, not willing yet to share this trust with anyone, not without permission. When she left the room to go out onto the deck, Loki followed her.

"Tamara, I am curious, you said Marie was a member of the X-Men but I do not know that term."

"Oh yeah, sorry, I'm just used to most people knowing about them. Well the X-men are sorta superheroes like us, only they're all mutants. They're also more public about who they are, for some it's because it would be hard to hide their mutation. Like Remy, he can't hide the fact that his eyes glow unless he wears sunglasses. Lots of other mutants can't hide their mutation either. But then you have mutants like my family, our mutations weren't visible so we could hide them most of the time."

"Tell me about your family, if you don't mind. I really know nothing about you but I would like to know more, I want to know about the people that helped shape who you are."

Tamara took a deep breath and looked at the stars for so long that she began to shiver in the cold October air. Loki conjured a cloak and started to leave her, thinking she was upset with him for asking. "Loki, if you really want to know, we'll talk, but not tonight, it's hard to talk about them, right now I just need some time alone."

Loki turned to go inside, then stopped and looked back at Tamara. "We are much alike I think, and I am glad you consider me part of your new family. I also wanted to make you an offer, I brought some books on healing spells with me, I would like to see if you can learn this magic." Loki didn't wait for a response, he simply turned and went back inside, to his room and bed.

Tamara stayed outside in the chill October air, until finally Tony came looking for her.

"Hey kiddo, why don't you come back inside where it's warm."

Tamara turned to face Tony and he saw the tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just, I miss them all so much. Sometimes I'll catch a whiff my dad's aftershave even though I know there's no one around. Or I'll think I hear my mom singing with my grandma. Loki asked me to tell him about my family and he offered to see if I could learn the type of magic he does but I don't know if that's a good idea."

"I don't know what advice to give you there but it's up to you what you tell him about your past. But from Jake told us about your family, they really cared for you. Maybe if you talk about them, it'll make it a little easier to get through these changes. Any idea what you're going to do tomorrow, I know you plan to take Loki out into the city."

"Yeah, I thought about taking him with me to visit a few shelters, see if I can find you some new employees."

Tony smiled, "You find the people and I'll find them a job and a place to stay. Now, come inside and get some sleep."

Tamara let Tony shoo her back inside and soon she was curled up in her room, sleeping soundly. When morning came, Tamara was up early to join Steve for a run as the sun rose. When they returned to the tower, they went to the gym and sparred for a bit before going back to their rooms to shower. They found everyone in the kitchen having breakfast except Loki. When Tamara went looking for him, he was still in his room, although he seemed to just be sitting and waiting. Tamara chased him out to join the others for breakfast so they could take Loki out later that day.

When they finished breakfast, Tamara escorted Loki out shopping so he would have normal clothing, while Happy drove the limo. After spending a couple of hours shopping, Loki was getting restless so Tamara decided it was time to show him around town, her way. She had Happy drive to the first homeless shelter and he found a place to park while Tamara led Loki inside. Once they were inside, she found the man in charge and they got right to work. Tamara visited shelters all over town that day, collecting information in the current residents and getting lists from the shelters about what supplies they needed for the shelter or residents. She had information on several men and women who had skills she knew would be useful either at SI or at other places she knew. She set up times to interview each of these people later in the week while the shelter staff would make sure they were available.

After she was done, Happy took them back to the tower for the day. Tamara started organizing her notes from the information she had gotten from each shelter and made arrangements to have supplies ordered. She also threw in orders for clothing for job interviews and a few toys for the kids currently staying at the shelters. Once she had everything organized, she began to sort through the information on the people she had met. She had found several people that might do well with entry-level jobs that were open at SI so she set those aside to show to Tony later. The others that she felt were seriously interested in getting their lives back on track, she began to search for jobs that might suit them elsewhere. By the time supper was ready, she had gone through everything and was more than ready to end for the day. Loki had watched as she sorted papers and ordered supplies, asking questions when he did not understand something.

Tamara went to the lab to drag Tony up for supper and to give him the info on the people she felt might fit in at SI. Tony took the flash drive and plugged it in, then left JARVIS doing background searches to make sure nothing dangerous turned up. Steve had cooked that night and Loki was hesitant to eat with everyone else, until he realized that the team had no reason to harm him, so he cautiously began to eat. After supper, Tamara began to clean up and Loki stayed to help her, still uncomfortable around the rest of the team.

Once everything was cleaned up, Tamara turned to Loki. "Were you serious about seeing if I could use magic?"

"I was, but I would need to study how you heal first, that would tell me what type of magic it is."

"Very well, but you should talk to Jake as well, he has his own type of magic. I'm not sure if he'll talk to you though, but it's worth a try."

"I will keep that in mind, but I will wait until I have earned his trust before asking. What will you do tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow Thor and I are going out to visit some children. You're welcome to come as well, you'll find children are more forgiving of mistakes than adults. Tonight, more practice, you wanna watch? Thor offered to spar with me so it's dodge practice."

"I would enjoy watching, but what do you mean by dodge practice?"

As they made their way down to the gym, Tamara explained. "It was agreed I can be on the team but my primary focus is as medic, not as a fighter. Every member of the team is a better fighter than me, although I can hold my own against regular people. So at least one day a week, someone spends a session where all I do is try to dodge their attacks. I've had to go into battles before, but my goal is always to get to whoever is injured and heal them enough to continue, then get out to a safe spot."

"It sounds interesting."

"It is and soon I'll be dodging more than one of them. The problem is, I know how they move and what they are capable of doing. It's different out in a real battle, the bad guys are totally unpredictable. Some day I want to give it a go against you, just to see if I can stay loose against magic, we don't have too many magic users here on the dark side."

"The real challenge with a magic user is to see through the spells or illusions, there will always be a hint as to what is real and what is not. Even if you cannot learn magic, perhaps you can learn to detect it, as Thor does."

"I would appreciate that, but for now, I have work to do. Tony had an area built that stands up to pretty much anything the team has thrown against the walls but you'll want to stay outside." Tamara indicated a small room that led into another room that Loki could only see a small part of through the glass. He followed Tamara in and watched as she continued on into the larger room where Thor waited. He watched as Thor handed her something and when she pulled it over her head, he saw it was a hood of sorts.

Thor walked towards one wall and pushed a button and various obstacles moved into position. However, Thor did not move to attack Tamara, instead Loki saw Clint move out of the shadows towards her. He was even more confused when he saw Steve slip into another corner and then Natasha into another spot. However, when he was joined by Dr. Banner he moved as far to the side of the small room as he could. Bruce didn't say anything to Loki, he just watched as finally Tony had entered the room as well.

Bruce pushed a button and that must have been some kind of signal because Clint attacked her from behind. He took Tamara by surprise and managed to get her on the ground but she soon broke loose and moved away from him. Clint didn't pursue her; however, she had now moved closer to Tony. He went after her as well but in a different manner from how Clint had attacked. Tamara easily eluded him but she was driven towards Tasha now who attacked, again in a different manner than usual. Tasha drove her towards Steve who went after her kicking and punching and it did not look to Loki like he was pulling his punches either. Steve drove her towards Thor who finally attacked and so they kept driving her between them, forcing her to react to various styles of attack. Tamara had started fighting back as she was attacked and Loki could see small streaks of blood where both Tasha and Clint had grazed her with a knife. He knew they were just scratches but now he understood just how far this team was willing to go to be ready to defend the planet. Tamara had been driven back towards Tony but now Thor went after her at the same time as Tony so Tamara was forced to fight both.

Thor and Tony had her cornered and she was fighting back, trying to get free of them when something went wrong. Loki saw Tony stumble slightly and Tamara's arm came down across his hard and drove him to the ground. Loki saw the glow that sprang from her bracelets as Tamara stopped and ripped the hood off. Tony was on the floor, cradling his right arm as Tamara dropped to her knees beside him. Loki could see the guilt on her face but right now he was more interested in her healing. He followed Bruce through the door and they were the first to reach the three.

Tamara had closed her eyes and was lightly running one hand over Tony's arm until she stopped, then let her hand wrap around his lower arm. Loki saw the bracelet begin to glow but he concentrated on watching Tamara, realizing that she was humming very softly. He allowed his vision to adjust so he could see the magic and he was both surprised and disappointed by what he saw. He did not think Tamara would be able to learn the healing spells from the book he had brought; not as they were, but maybe he could adapt them to work with the magic he saw in her. When the light faded, Tamara got to her feet and quickly left the room and no one bothered to go after her.

Loki started to follow her but Thor stopped him, "Leave her, she feels guilty she injured Tony, she will return when she has calmed." Loki quickly put a trace spell on Tamara and waited as Thor pulled Tony to his feet, making sure not to touch his arm that Tamara had healed. Everyone left the gym and returned to their rooms to shower and change. Loki selected the book of healing spells and conjured a blank book and quill, then made his way to Thor's room.

He found the door open but Thor was no where in sight so Loki went looking for him and finally found him, in the kitchen.

"Brother, I have a question about Tamara."

"I will answer it, if I can but some things you must ask her."

"It is a simple thing, have you ever heard Tamara make music?"

"I have, why do you ask?"

"Do you recall what she used to make the music?"

"I did not see, she was on the roof and I heard her playing. It sounded very sad and mournful and when it stopped, I could hear her crying. I thought she had gone there to grieve for her family so I left her in peace."

Unnoticed by either of them, Steve had come into the kitchen for a drink as well and heard Loki's question. "She has a harmonica that belonged to her great-grandfather and a small set of pipes that she said has been in her family a very long time."

"I noticed that when she healed Tony's arm, she was humming so I was curious. How is he?"

"Jake said she didn't break it, just put too much pressure on a nerve, but he won't even have a bruise."

Tony came into to kitchen then followed by Pepper who was chewing him out for taking on Tamara bare-handed. When she saw Steve there as well, she went after him about them ganging up on Tamara the way they did. Steve listened quietly, never answering her back. Finally it seemed she was done venting her frustration and she sat down at the table and accepted the cup of coffee that Tasha handed her.

"Does it not concern you that she took off when she thought she injured Tony?"

It was Tony who answered Loki's question. "Not anymore but it did at first. We've learned a lot about each other in the time we've been a team. We know what makes each other tick, what really upsets someone and what makes them happy. Each one of us knows what triggers nightmares for the others and what not to do if someone is having a nightmare. For example, when Tamara has a nightmare, she's quiet but we always know because she ends up in the common room or on the deck when the weather is warm enough. And she gets upset at the idea of injuring one of us, even in practice. She needs space to cool off and calm down but don't worry, JARVIS is tracking her and she most likely has company out there."

"Who? You are all here and so is the cat, who do you trust to watch over her?"

"We're not the only heroes in this city Loki, most of the others focus on everyday crimes though. If she's up high then she'll catch the attention of Spidey, he knows we're back. Look, you saw her in there, she can take care of herself against most of what the city can throw at her. And we trust her to let us know if she runs into something she can't handle."

Tony and Pepper left the kitchen and soon everyone was gathered in the media room. "JARVIS, pick something from the list we made for Steve and Thor and make a list for Loki to catch him up on movies. Loki, we've been watching a bunch of stuff that you need to understand if you want to fit in modern culture. Just ask JARVIS anytime you're bored and he can direct you to one of the movies on the list. I'll have a TV brought to your room or you can use the one in here. If you think you'll be staying a while I'll set you up a suite like everyone else has, there are plenty of empty rooms on Thor's floor."

"Thank you, it is most appreciated."

Everyone sat down to enjoy the movie and Loki found it amusing to listen to the mortals discuss the film and how it related to modern culture.


	10. Unexpected Company

The team was into the second movie already and Tamara still had not returned. Loki tried not to worry about her but he felt that other than Thor, she was the only one who truly believed him and he considered her a friend. He was debating trying to locate her when JARVIS interrupted the movie.

"Sir, something large just crossed the sensors for the estate and Tamara appears to be in pursuit."

"Activate the cameras J, let's see what she's chasing." The movie switched to infrared cameras and the team could see Tamara chasing something larger than her that was running on four feet and a smaller shape was just in front of it. "J, get the suit, give the team the details, I'll meet them there."

Loki had quickly left the room when he saw that Tamara appeared outmatched by the two unknown creatures. Without waiting to see what the others would do, he prepared to teleport but as he did, he felt a weight join his. When he arrived close to Tamara, he found the additional weight was Toi. Loki made his way cautiously towards Tamara but Toi had left him behind.

Loki heard Tony arrive and assumed he was using his computer to track Tamara. He didn't hear any sounds like fighting so he moved cautiously towards where he thought Tamara was located. When he made his way into the open, he found Tamara and Toi facing down what appeared to be a small bear but it was obviously wounded. Tony had landed and was watching Tamara as she was trying to get closer to the bear which was growling ay her if she came too close. Loki wondered why he didn't just shoot the poor creature but before he could ask, he heard the others arriving. A large bloody wild cat was on the ground near the bear struggling to rise and it looked as though the bear was protecting it.

"Everyone stay back, Loki can you cast a sleep spell on both these creatures?"

"I can but why?"

"Just do it please, Tamara doesn't want them destroyed."

Loki cast a simple sleep spell and watched as first the cat succumbed and then the bear slowly fell under the power of the spell as well. Once both were safely asleep, Tony walked carefully up to Tamara.

"OK, they're not dead, now what, we taking them to a zoo or something?"

"Or something, I need to contact someone, got a phone handy? But first, can you get JARVIS to guide someone back along my trail? Spider-man may be hurt but I had to keep these two in sight."

Tamara took the phone Tony handed her and quickly sent a text message off while Clint and Tasha went with Steve to find Spider-man and make sure he wasn't injured. Toi was licking at several places on the cat that appeared to be bullet wounds but everyone else kept their distance from the wounded animals. "Loki, can you teleport us to the gym? Jake will meet us there with sedatives and bandages. Tony, hopefully we'll have company in a little while."

When Tony nodded his assent, Loki teleported them all to the gym. Jake joined them in a couple of minutes and seemed only mildly surprised to see Tamara with two large wounded animals. However, he quickly gave each of them a sedative and began to tend to the injuries, beginning with the cat. Tony left to remove the suit while Tamara helped Jake with the wounded animals. After a moment's hesitation, Loki went over to see if he could be of any help.

Several minutes later, Steve and the others returned to the tower and requested that Jake join them in the infirmary. Jake was in the middle of stitching a large cut on the injured cat so Tamara went to the infirmary instead. When she arrived, she found Steve and Clint trying to talk Spider-man into letting them help him but she didn't see Tasha at first. Tamara could see several wounds that were still bleeding and it made her wonder briefly why he was even still standing. A noise behind the three men caught her attention and she saw that Tasha was busy setting up a suture tray.

Clint saw her first when she entered the room and he stepped back, letting Tamara take his place. "Calm down Spidey, you can't go home like that. Just let me help you and then we'll see to it you get a ride home. You remember the first time we actually met?"

Spider-man nodded his head but didn't say a word.

"Well, I can do that for other people too. I promise, no one will remove your mask but I need you to trust me and I will need a hand in here, deal?"

Spider-man nodded again and followed Tamara over to a bed. He sat down slowly, trying not to jar his left leg which had four deep gashes running down the thigh. He had a shallower set running across his forearm, as though he had used his arm to protect his face from the bear. Steve left the room for a few minutes but returned with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He laid them down on the bed beside Spider-man while Tamara was busy cleaning blood off of Spider-man's leg. After several minutes, she was able to see the gashes better but the material of his suit kept getting in her way.

"Look, your suit is in the way; let Steve help you get it off, I'll leave the room if you prefer." When she didn't get an answer, Tamara just turned around but she could hear noises as Spider-man struggled to remove the suit and put on the shorts. When Tamara turned back around, he was still wearing his mask but he hadn't bothered to put the t-shirt on yet. As she began to probe the gashes to see how deep they went, Tamara decided it was a good time to chat with Spider-man.

"So I got the message from Red, and I'm pretty sure I figured out who he is. What I'm wondering is if you know who he is?"

Spider-man shook his head 'no'.

"Well, then I won't say who I think he is. Do you remember a few days ago, right before we left? I was serious then, I know who you are but I won't say a word to anyone. But you need to consider how you're gonna explain these injuries to the person you live with." Tamara could feel Spider-man tense up at those words and she knew it was something he hadn't thought about yet. "You gotta trust somebody, sometime, why not us or at least Jake and I?"

Spider-man was quiet as Tamara continued to clean the wounds but when she picked up a needle, he tensed. "It's just a tetanus shot, no telling what kind of germs were on those claws. I'm also going to numb it so I can stitch it up. Did you see them change? I saw the bear change but not the cat."

This had the desired effect of getting Spider-man to talk. "Yeah, I saw them both change, I don't think he meant to hurt me. The bear was just trying to protect the cat, that poor girl."

"Wait, what are you talking about, what poor girl?"

"Steve, those aren't normal animals, they're mutants or shape-shifters or something. The cat was already changed when I got there but I saw it being attacked by several young men. Some teen boy came up behind them and tried to stop them but he got knocked around. I saw him go down but then he changed into the bear and attacked the guys. What set them all off?"

"That cat is a girl, young teen I'd guess. She was being harassed by the guys and when she tried to get away, one of them hit her before I could interfere. She changed into that cat and tried to fight back but I saw one of them pull out a gun and shoot her. Then the bear was there and when I tried to get to the cat to get it out of there, the bear got me. Guess he didn't realize I was trying to help them."

"Loki put them under a sleep spell and once we got them back here, I had Jake sedate them. We need to find out where they came from, they can't go back injured."

"What are you gonna do with them?"

"I want to send them out of the city, hopefully someone will get here soon. If nothing else, they'll find them a safe place to live. Steve can you go see if Jake is done, I want both of them someplace more comfortable if we can manage."

Steve got the feeling the request was a reason to be alone with Spider-man, so even though JARVIS could have easily given her the information, he went to check himself. Once he had left the room, Tamara gave him time to get out of hearing distance and turned back to Spider-man.

"Look Peter, I won't tell anyone who you are, but I have figured out exactly who you are. Your mistake was in getting too close to me both as Spider-man and Peter Parker. If you trust the others, then we can help you more. Tony loves to build stuff and I'm sure he'd create all kinds of gadgets for you, just like he does the rest of us. We can also help you improve your suit, all our suits stand up to knives and most bullets so I don't think bear claws would be an issue either."

Spider-man was quiet, but after a minute, he slowly reached up and removed his hood, revealing himself as a young man not much older than Tamara. Once the hood was off, Tamara could see a bruise on the side of his head so she gently cleaned it, feeling bad when he winced. She turned her attention back to his leg and was glad to see the numbing had taken effect. She began to place the stitches, beginning with a few _dissolvable_ ones deep in the muscles to help hold them together. She was almost done with the second of the wounds when she heard someone else coming down the hall.

"Peter, we're about to have company, in case you want to put your mask back on."

He looked down at the mask he still held in his hand, then dropped it with the remains of his suit. "Like you said, I gotta trust people sometime."

When Jake entered the room, he never said a word, just went straight to work stitching Peter's leg, while Tamara began to stitch his arm. Once all the stitches were in, he wrapped both the leg and arm to prevent infection. He watched as Tamara handed the young man a shirt, which he pulled over his head. Grabbing the remains of his suit, he bundled it up, then shoved it under his arm. Jake brought out a pair of crutches and handed them to Peter, then they both followed Tamara to the elevator. She stopped the elevator on her floor, then showed Peter to a room and advised him to take a nap while they dealt with the other injured guests.

Tamara and Jake made their way back down to the gym where both the cat and the bear continued to sleep. Steve had apparently told the others about them being mutants because everyone was more relaxed. Tamara told the others that Spider-man was currently resting in one of the empty rooms on her floor. When she suggested moving the bear and cat to her floor, everyone was against the idea.

"No, you don't know if they're dangerous or if they can control these changes. They need to be in a controlled environment."

"Well it can't be comfortable for them on the gym floor, even with the mats. And the only other place that's this secure is the tank. Loki, can you teleport them to the very last empty room on my floor, it has some fairly thick carpet."

"I can do better than that, I will teleport them both there but I will make it more comfortable first." Loki blinked out and was gone for a couple of minutes as Tamara continued to argue with the others. When he returned, he simply grabbed the two with his magic and teleported them, along with Tamara, to the room she had indicated. By the time the rest of the team arrived, Loki had erected a shield around the room to keep the two guests inside. Toi passed freely through the shield and stretched out where she could watch both of them.

Tamara was tired after having used healing on Tony and then going out around town, ending in the chase of these two and returning them to the tower. She stopped to check on Peter and found him sleeping, so she used a little of her healing power to speed up the process for the injuries on his leg. She made her way to her room and was settling down for a nap on the couch when there was a knock on the door. When she opened her door, she wasn't surprised to see Tony, a small bowl of fruit in his hands.

"Tony, what's up?"

"Just wanted to make sure you got a bite to eat. You took off so fast earlier, and now all this. So how's Spider-man, Clint said it looked like the bear tried to tear him up."

"Stitches in both his arm and leg, leg is kinda deep so I used a little healing on him. But please, don't go looking for him, I think he's willing to trust us but let him come to us. Jake and I have seen him unmasked but the safety of his family depends on nobody knowing who he is. Let him decide if he's ready to trust everyone or not. I asked JARVIS to let him know where I am when he wakes up and to offer to guide him to the rest of you."

"OK, so if we see a strange guy hobbling around your floor, it's Spider-man? JARVIS, make sure the others are notified. Now what are you planning to do about those two?" Tony pointed down the hall towards where the two mutants slept.

"I sent a message to Remy about them. I didn't have much detail then but I told him we had two injured mutants. He said Hank was out of the mansion but they'd get him back and send him down with someone to take them back to the institute. I don't know where Hank is but they'll probably get the team together, then go get Hank and come here in the jet so make sure the roof is clear. I felt Jean earlier so she has images of both of them and I made it clear one is most likely a young teen or even pre-teen. She'll make sure a couple of the kids are with them, it might help reassure both of them. How's your arm?"

"You didn't really hurt it much, Jake said you just pinched a nerve. I want to apologize for earlier, that was mostly my idea. I knew you planned to spar with Thor and it was my idea for all of us to go after you like that."

"Don't worry about it, if I hadn't gotten upset and gone out tonight, I never would have found those two. They'd probably ended up dead and Spider-man would have ended up exposed or even dead himself. I think things worked out the way they were meant to happen."

Tony left Tamara to sleep and went back to join the others. As the others went to bed later, he went down to his lab to work. While he was down there, he got to thinking about how the team could win Spider-man's trust and he knew a way he could help. "J, can you get measurements on Spider-man where he's resting?"

"I can Sir."

"Good, measure him and lets see if we can fix him a better suit before he wakes up. If he has his suit in the room with him, then analyze it so we can see what he's working with currently."

In a few moments, JARVIS had a basic hologram of Spider-man and designs for a new suit made of a much stronger material. Tony just shook his head when he saw that Spider-man's current suit was ordinary fabric, wondering how he had managed to go so long without serious injury. Tony made notes of possible improvements to the suit but simply had one fashioned that looked like the ruined suit, albeit it was now much safer as it was made of the same material as Tamra's suit.

As Tony was heading to bed, JARVIS alerted him that a jet was landing on the roof. He instructed JARVIS to wake Tamara but not the others as he went to meet the jet. He was expecting Hank and Remy but some of the others were unfamiliar to him. He didn't have much information to give them about the mutants so he simply took them down to Tamara's floor. He found Tamara waiting for them so he left her with Hank and Remy, then went on to bed.

Tamara took them to the end of the hall, to the room Loki had shielded. Both had reverted to human but only the boy was awake and he watched them warily as Tamara led the X-Men into the room. When Tamara tried to approach, the boy got between her and the girl and it seemed clear he was protecting her. He allowed Hank to approach and once he could tell that Remy and Kurt were mutants, he allowed them to approach as well. Jean was able to read his mind so she took Tamara aside and let her know that no one would be looking for either of them. They were twins and when he first manifested his shape shifting, their father had beaten him. This caused his sister to shift as well and they were driven out as monsters. As Hank picked the wounded girl up, the boy stayed close, one hand maintaining contact with his sister. Tamara watched as the X-Men left with the teens, glad that they would be safe and she hoped that the girl would survive.

She saw a box sitting outside the room where Peter still slept and she grew curious. Opening the box, she found a replacement for the spider suit, along with a note from Tony letting him know he didn't have to reveal who he was. She carried the box into the room and laid the suit out on a chair beside the bed. Peter was still sleeping so Tamara quietly put her hands over his leg and used a little more healing on him, focusing on mending the muscles more than the skin. When she could tell that the wounds were about half-healed, she stopped and left the room, never realizing that Peter wasn't sleeping the entire time.

Peter moved his leg gently, feeling the tightness in the muscles from the stitches. He couldn't understand why Tamara had bothered to heal him but he was grateful; the more healed he was, the less likely Aunt May would notice. He picked up the suit where Tamara had laid it, along with the note. He read the note, then realized that Tony had offered him a way to protect his secret. Reassured, he closed his eyes and drifted back off to sleep.


	11. Spider-man Revealed

It was early when JARVIS woke Tamara to let her know that her guest was awake and asking her whereabouts. Tamara dressed quickly, then grabbed extra clothes that she thought might fit Peter. She made her way down the hall, then knocked on the door before going in.

"Peter, I've got some clothes you can wear, we tend to keep odd things lying around."

Peter stepped out of the bathroom and Tamara could see that he was wearing part of the suit Tony had the bots fashion the night before. "Toss 'em here please, I'll be ready in a minute."

Tamara tossed the clothes to Peter and he went back into the bathroom, leaving it a few minutes later wearing them instead of the spider suit. He had a small bundle in his hands that Tamara figured must be the suit.

"So do you want me to sneak you out or what?"

"No, you were right. I need to trust somebody so I have help when I need it. You asked them to come looking for me last night, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I didn't know if you were hurt or how bad but I knew you couldn't risk going to a hospital."

"Thanks, it could have been the end of Spider-man last night if I'd got caught."

"So you want to join us for breakfast? It would give you a chance to meet everyone."

"You sure I'm doing the right thing, I mean I gotta protect my aunt."

"Peter, only years down the road will you know if this is the right choice. But keep in mind, all we want is to help you help other people. We are not a threat to you or those you care about and none of us would ever intentionally reveal your identity."

"Why are you doing this? I mean, why help me? And you're the recent addition to the Avengers, aren't you?"

"Officially, I'm just a kid that people think is related to Pepper. In reality, yes, I'm part of the team but not as a fighter unless I have to be. Some people are scared to be around Bruce when he changes but he knows me and trusts me. So I managed to convince everyone to give me a shot as team medic. As to why I'm helping you, simple, I'm a healer. I can't stand to see anything sentient suffer, be it man or beast. You're not the only one I'm helping either, I should warn you that Loki is here and he is under the protection of the Avengers."

"Loki? That madman, after what he did..How.."

"Just stop, you have no idea what he suffered and why he acted as he did. Don't judge him until you have seen the pain he suffered, not even Thor knows exactly what was done to him but I have seen it. He only gave in because he was led to believe that his resistance would lead to Thor's death. Have you ever faced magic, been involved in magic workings?"

"No"

"Then you have no idea the power that can lie within magic but I do. Now, do you want to join us for breakfast or not?"

"You trust Loki?"

"I do"

"Then I guess I get to meet two gods instead of one."

"JARVIS, ask Bruce to set an extra place, we will have company for breakfast."

Tamara handed Peter the crutches and led the way from the room to the elevator. On the way down she indicated the levels that were private quarters, explaining that most of the team had their own floor, although Natasha and Clint shared a floor, as did Thor and Loki for now. They didn't go down as far as the gym or training levels but she did offer to show him later, if he was interested. When the elevator reached the common floor, Tamara took the lead and Peter followed her cautiously into the kitchen.

When Tamara entered the kitchen, everyone got quiet, curious about their as yet unidentified guest. Tamara stepped aside to reveal a man with light brown hair who didn't look to be much older than her.

"Well, this is awkward."

"No it's not, they're just curious. Guys, this is Peter Parker and as you've probably guessed by now, he's Spider-man."

"Hi"

After a few mumbled greetings, everyone went back to eating breakfast while Tamara made Peter sit. She fixed a plate and set it before him before fixing a plate for herself. Peter glanced at the amount of food she had piled on her plate and just shook his head, he saw no way someone as small as her could finish all that. Some time later, he was wondering where she managed to put it all as everyone was leaving the table.

As everyone finished eating it was Tony who broke the silence first. "Parker, you're with the Bugle aren't you? Now we know how you managed to get some of the photos they've published. Guess swinging from a web can give a unique perspective on a fight. But you might want to be careful with that, someone might eventually connect the photos with Spider-man."

"I don't do it often. And I try to make sure the shots are possible from surrounding buildings. The hardest thing is setting up cameras to get shots of my moving through the city to help stop people from connecting the the two. You should see how many photos I discard, but even Jameson hasn't caught on yet."

"Tamara, are you joining us in the gym?"

"Yeah Thor. Jake you wanna check Peter's leg and then bring him to the gym?"

"No problem Tamara, I'll let you know if it needs more work."

Peter was a bit reassured to be left with Jake but he wondered just what kind of training Tamara did with the team. Jake led Peter back down to the infirmary and checked over the stitches in his leg and had him go through a series of range of motion exercises. Once he was satisfied, he led Peter back to the gym to join the others.

Inside the gym, Steve and Tamara were in the ring sparring and Peter was a bit surprised when he saw that neither one appeared to be pulling punches. Tamara was knocked off her feet several times but she always got back up. A timer went off and the two of them left the ring, turning it over to Clint and Tasha. Steve and Tamara took a break before Steve went to the weights while Tamara came over to join Peter and Jake.

"Are you always like that?"

"Like what?"

"Neither of you were pulling punches and he hit you hard. I kinda thought maybe your own team would go easy on you or something. I mean aren't you supposed to just be the medic?"

"At one time they did, but that was before Loki got involved and I got a bit of Asgårdian magic. I'm not a normal human anymore, even beyond the mutant side of me. Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm fragile or something, I can probably kick your ass easily but we'll wait until your leg is fully healed. And even though I'm supposed to avoid battles, sometimes I have to get involved. Besides, they worry something might happen to me outside team stuff so we all agreed I train with them."

Peter was noticeably nervous when Loki came to join them. "Tamara, I was wondering, are you aware that you hum when you use your gift?"

"I hum? Nope, never noticed, why?"

"I may be able to help you access greater healing power without as much drain on yourself. I believe the humming is actually you using magic and not your own ability. If young Peter is willing, I would like to have you test this theory."

"How?"

"Relax, it will not harm him. Either it works and heals him with less effort on your part or it fails to work at all. I can study the healing either way, whether it works or not, but I would like to help you find a way to use your power that does not drain you so much."

"So what do I need to do?"

"The Captain mentioned you have a set of pipes that you play. I simply need you to try to heal while making music instead of using physical contact."

"Sounds easy enough, you want me to get my pipes or what?"

"No need for that until I can see if you are using music as a spell. Perhaps you could try to heal the wounds on his arm. Do as you normally would, only do not touch him while you attempt to heal his wounds."

Peter sat down on one of the benches and Tamara joined him. She had him stretch his arm out and she placed her hands over the wounds, but not touching the injury as she normally did. Closing her eyes, she began to concentrate, softly humming as she did so. When she felt that the wounds should show noticeably healing, she stopped and opened her eyes. To her disappointment, the wounds were not healed as much as she had hoped but she could tell that they were healed more than before. Tamara thought Loki looked thoughtful as he watched her but she simply allowed her hand to rest on the wounds on Peter's arm and she healed it as she normally would. Once she was done with his arm, she placed her hand over the wounds on his leg and focused on healing them, until they were not much more than severe scratches.

"Think you can explain that to your aunt?"

Peter nodded, "I can't thank you enough, Aunt May has no idea about any of this."

"It's no problem, I told you last night we'd try to help you if we can."

Peter didn't notice that Steve had come over and joined them. "She's right, you're welcome to use the gym and equipment. And if you give Tony a chance, he might surprise you. Speaking of Tony, you'll need to see him to get access to the upper levels of the tower."

"OK, where do I find him?"

"JARVIS, what's Tony's location?"

"He is currently in the workshop."

"I'll take him down, I know the rest of you still have training to do."

Jake led Peter from the gym as Steve returned to the ring to spar with Thor and Tamara went to the range for practice.

When Jake and Peter reached the workshop, they found Tony and Bruce waiting for them. Jake left Peter with the two scientists to discuss access to the upper levels of the tower. Tony gave Peter limited access to the upper levels, restricting him to the main floor and training levels until the team could see how he handled himself. Once that was done, Bruce escorted Peter to the elevator that would take him to the ground floor so he could return home.


	12. Drífa

After Tamara was through training, she returned to her room to shower and change. Once she was done, she returned to the common room where Thor was waiting for her with Loki.

"Thor says the two of you are going out for a few hours, may I accompany you?"

"Actually, I was hoping you'd come with us. We're going to a local group home to visit the children. It's something we do every other week and the children look forward to it."

"You really want me to go? What do you do when you visit?"

"Well, Thor usually spends the time telling them stories of Asgård. Sometimes I read to them, or do puzzles, or we play games, really just anything to make them happy. These children are in a bad situation, most of them don't have families they can live with right now. If it's something Tony can help with, then I get whatever information I can for him and he does what he can to help. And the staff knows Thor is Asgårdian so you can use your magic there."

"If you are sure I am permitted..."

"Loki, with Thor and I both around, no one is gonna stop you. Don't worry about SHIELD and Director Fury, just come and help us with the kids."

Loki nodded but didn't say anything else. When Steve joined them with a large box, he tried not to stare but he felt as though he was only being tolerated because Tamara wished it. The four took the elevator down to the garage where a SUV was waiting for them. Steve loaded the box into the back while everyone else found seats. Tamara was driving and Thor took a back seat and directed Loki to the other seat, leaving the front seat for Steve. As Steve started to climb in, a furry form jumped inside and settled itself in the back in Loki's lap. It wasn't a long drive to the home but the silence inside the SUV was almost unbearable, until Loki spoke up.

"Are you coming as a guard, Captain Rogers?"

"Yes and no. I'm coming to make sure no one tries to do anything to harm you. I gave Odin my word that we would protect you, and that includes keeping SHIELD from imprisoning you. You don't strike me as the type of person who would harm children. But I'm also coming because of a couple of kids that enjoy art. And you can call me Steve, everyone else does."

"I appreciate your honesty, Captain."

They arrived at the home and everyone climbed out. Thor hurried up the steps where Loki could see a couple of children waiting. Steve took the box from the back and headed inside as well, going to a large room with several tables. There were a couple of children waiting for him, and as soon as he set the box down, they were eagerly pulling art supplies out and dividing them up.

Tamara headed off in a different direction but Loki could hear Thor's booming voice as he told stories to a bunch of children. Not knowing what else to do, and feeling the most comfortable with Tamara, Loki followed her. He found her in a small glass enclosed porch where several younger children were running around. Toi rushed past Loki into the room and began to play with the children. Loki saw Tamara speaking with an older woman who had a girl in her lap as she rocked. He joined them, unsure what Tamara intended to do with this group of children.

Tamara seated herself on a cushion and took out a harmonica and began to play softly. This must have been a normal occurrence for the children for they quickly settled down around her. The small child with the older woman began to cry just as the phone started ringing. The older woman handed the child to Tamara who tried to quiet her but she was unsuccessful. Loki grew frustrated and finally took the child from Tamara and began to walk with her, softly singing an old lullaby Frigga used to sing to him and Thor when they were small.

The small girl grew quiet, her head resting on his shoulder, until he stopped singing. The little girl began to speak to him just as the old woman returned. Loki couldn't understand why she was asking for her mother and father. When the old woman asked him what she said, Loki realized the girl was there because no one could speak her language, which he recognized as an older Norse dialect.

"What is she saying, do you understand her?"

"Yes, the language is old but I know it well."

"Can you find out her name and where her family is? She was found wandering the streets several days ago and the police don't have a missing persons report matching her. We don't even know her name."

Loki spoke with the small girl, then turned to the older woman. "Her name is _Drífa_ _Aldís____dóttir__. _She can't tell me anything else except how she got here. She said she was playing outside and then everything got really bright, when the light went away, she was no longer anywhere she knew. She just wants to go home."

"What language was she speaking, that might help us find her family?"

"It is Norse but it is an old dialect. It must be an isolated area if they still speak this dialect."

Tamara took out her Stark phone and sent a message to Tony, asking if he could have JARVIS search worldwide missing children's reports for the girl. She snapped a picture of the girl and added it to the message. "I've got a friend searching worldwide missing children reports. If she's been reported missing, we'll find her family."

While Tamara played music and read to the other children, Loki kept the small girl with him. As Tamara read, he translated the stories for the small girl. When Tamara said it was time to leave, the small girl was asleep in his arms and he hated the idea of leaving her behind. He was a bit surprised to hear a familiar laugh behind him. Turning, he saw Thor watching him with a smile on his face.

"I see you found the little ones, they like Tamara's stories better then mine and you made a friend."

"Yes, she reminds me of my own."

"Loki, are the legends true about you and your children?"

"Some of it is true. Sleipner, Fenris and Jorgumand are shape-shifters. But I lived here on Midgard for a while as a mortal woman and I bore children. I am a sorcerer and that is part of my magic, I am man or woman as I choose."

"You must leave the child now brother."

"How can we leave her here? None of them can speak with her, or soothe her dreams. She said her mother sang her the same lullaby that Frigga sung to us Thor. Please, can we take her with us? I will care for her until we find her family."


End file.
